


Leon and the Servant

by Smcstrav



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Canon Era, Class Differences, Friendship, Gen, Hurt Merlin, Hurt/Comfort, Master & Servant, Physical Abuse, Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-20
Updated: 2015-07-26
Packaged: 2018-04-10 06:14:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 63,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4380371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smcstrav/pseuds/Smcstrav
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As he watches Merlin go through a difficult time, Leon is forced to question everything he knows about duty and responsibility and the places of servants and nobles in society. Set very early in season 1 canon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> All Merlin fans know about how Merlin transformed Arthur from a bullying prat into the 'Once and Future King'. But I've always wondered about Leon. Here was a traditional 'Uther' knight and noble that became one of Arthur's most trusted Round Table knights. I think Merlin must have had an influence on not just Arthur but on those around him too, so here's my take on Leon's transformation.
> 
> This was my first chapter story, and was posted originally on fanfiction.net. Thanks a million to my beta LyricalSinger for the help and brainstorming.
> 
> A/N About physical abuse. I certainly don't condone it in any form. However I believe that in the canon timeframe it would likely have been used in a controlled way as a disciplinary measure for, say, poorly performing manservants!
> 
> Hint: Merlin is a poorly performing manservant, and some people have more control than others. (I should also mention, though -Arthur is not the abuser!)

**Leon and the Servant Chapter 1**

Sir Leon yawned as he walked down the cobblestone street towards the city gates to begin his turn on watch. As one of King Uther's most trusted senior knights, monitoring the comings and goings of the people of Camelot was not usually among his duties. But with Lord Aelrod of Cambria's imminent visit, surveillance had been stepped up in the last week, lest sorcerers or other undesirables try to set up in Camelot to cause trouble.

Luckily, it was really not turning out to be such a bad morning to get stuck with the duty. Although his shift began at the breaking of dawn, Leon was only assigned to the watch for two hours. That would give him plenty of time afterwards to return to his chambers for a hot breakfast. He should even have time for a bit of a rest before he had to head out to run his group of squires through their morning drills. And although it had rained for most of the night, just now it was clear, and the sky was beginning to glow pink in the distance where the sun was starting to rise. Leon took a deep breath in appreciation, and smiled. Due to all the rain, the air had a loamy, earthy scent; Leon thought he could detect newly cut hay from the plots on the other side of the walls, and a hint of the sweet smell of the roses from the palace gardens which were not far away.

As Leon had expected, at this time of the morning there were very few citizens going through the gates. Most of the people he let through were night workers from the castle or town who were returning home to one or other of the small huts that were common in the farmland just outside the city walls.

There was only one person who would need to be let through from outside the walls and into the city.

Leon watched as the person walked along the road leading to the gates. He was laden down with a large burlap sack, and had two unlit lanterns attached together by a rope slung over his shoulder. Leon supposed that he must have been out collecting something in the night.

As the person got nearer, Leon realized with a start that he recognized the dark-haired boy. It was hard to be certain from this distance, but surely this was Prince Arthur's new manservant? Leon wondered whether the prince had sent him on some errand, though he doubted it. What would Arthur want with something from the countryside beyond the walls? Well, Leon would find out soon enough what mission had the boy outside the city in the night.

When the boy reached the gate, Leon saw that he looked tired and there was a goodly amount of mud all over him. His boots were soaked through with it. But he still smiled and said cheerily, "Good Morning, Sir Leon. It's turning out to be a nice morning, isn't it? I'm glad the rain finally stopped."

"Merlin, is it?" responded Leon without returning the smile. "Could you please tell me what has you coming into the city at this time of morning, and what is inside that bag you are carrying?"

Merlin pulled the rope holding the lanterns, in order to hitch them up a bit higher on his shoulder. "Well, I was out collecting some herbs for Gaius. There is this one he needs that only shows its blossoms for a short time right at dawn, so you have to be ready and waiting near the area where it grows if you want to find it."

Merlin looked up at Leon's perplexed frown, and continued, "And since I had to be out early anyway, I figured I may as well get a few more of the things that he's been asking me for."

Merlin's brown creased into a frown as he apparently had an unpleasant memory, "One of them only grows at the edge of that bog down the road and over in the valley a ways."

"Do you know how hard it is to find the exact edge of a bog in the rain, in the dark, even with TWO lanterns?! I fell in twice, and I'm soaked right through!"

"Luckily the rain got most of the mud off though," he added as an afterthought.

Leon raised his eyebrows at that. If Merlin's state now was AFTER the mud had been washed off, he hated to think what the boy had looked like before.

He didn't have much time to think about it though, because Merlin rushed on. "And I had to do that BEFORE I went to find the dawn-flower, since I have to get back to Camelot and then grind all of these up for Gaius before I can go and get Arthur his breakfast, so that just gives me a couple of hours."

"And Arthur's already told me that he has a long list of chores for me in the next few days since some Lord is visiting, so I won't have any time later."

"But Gaius has hurt his foot, so HE can't go out for it, and he needs it soon because he's really low on some of his potions for stomach ailments that people apparently get when they feast too much, which is sure to happen when that Lord visits, so that's what all this stuff is for," Merlin finished, and looked at Leon expectantly.

Leon shook his head, and wondered if Merlin had even taken a breath during that deluge of information. But something struck him, "Gaius? But are you not Arthur's manservant? Why are you running errands for Gaius?"

"Oh, well, I am Gaius' ward, actually," explained Merlin, "When I came to Camelot, Gaius expected that I would be his assistant, but then the King assigned me to be Arthur's manservant. And Gaius and I talked about it, and for now we are going to see if I can manage to do both. I mean, I can be Arthur's manservant, but I'd really like to still help out Gaius too, though maybe I won't have quite as much time as we thought initially."

Leon nodded his understanding. He had not known that the boy was Gaius' ward, so that explained the herb-collecting errand. He well remembered the attempt on Arthur's life a month or so ago though, which had resulted in Merlin being made the prince's manservant.

Leon remembered being amused that Uther would think of this as being a 'reward' for anybody, as the Prince was arrogant and inconsiderate even to his peers. Leon didn't want to think how he may treat a serving boy. In fact, Arthur had already had a run-in with Merlin even before he'd been made a servant. When Leon had heard about the confrontation, he had not been impressed and had wondered just what Arthur thought he was proving by besting an unarmed and untrained peasant boy.

"Fine then, Merlin," Leon said. "You may go ahead and get on with your grinding."

"Thank you, Sir Leon," answered Merlin with another smile, before hitching the lanterns a last time and squelching his way through the gates.

As he watched Merlin continue on into the city and towards the castle, Leon found himself surprised. From what he'd been able to see this morning, the boy was a hard worker, which was not what Leon had been taught to expect from a commoner. And though of course he'd lost that fight with Arthur, Leon had been told that Merlin hadn't backed down, even though he must have known he'd be far outmatched. Hmmm. Leon thought that Arthur may just have his hands full with this one.

* * *

Several hours later, Leon walked purposefully down the hall towards the armoury. He was sure he'd heard voices raised in laughter. They certainly sounded like his missing charges.

But what were Ewan and Alfred doing in the armoury? They were supposed to have been on the training field a half-hour ago for the drills Leon wanted to run his squires through before the arrival of the lord Aelrod of Cambria and his young heir.

Cambria was an important ally in the making, and Uther wanted to impress Aelrod enough to convince him to leave his son in Camelot as a squire.

Leon sighed. Alfred and Ewan were impressive enough with their weapons, or at least they were when they put forth an effort and took their training seriously. Unfortunately, this did not appear to be one of those times.

To make matters worse, Uther himself was currently on his way to the armoury for an inspection. Leon had happened to overhear the King's intentions as he spoke to his duty guards.

Leon had happened to walk by the council chamber in search of his truants just at that moment, and suspecting that the armoury was exactly where he'd find them, the knight had rushed ahead. He hoped he would arrive in time to ensure that his charges at least looked the part of serious knights-in-training, before the King arrived.

He sighed again as he rounded the corner and the door to the armoury came into view at the end of the hallway. There in plain sight through the open door, he could see his two laughing truants facing away from him and talking to someone in the room.

"Come on, Merlin, put some back into it," Ewan was saying.

"Maybe we should give him a hand" said Alfred reaching out and pulling, though Leon couldn't yet see what he was reaching for.

The pull brought Merlin into view, and Leon could see that the servant was trying to keep hold of the gauntlet that Alfred was trying to take from him.

"Can't you just leave me alone to get on with this?" said Merlin in exasperation. "I've got plenty to do this morning without you adding to my work." Merlin pleaded. Then Merlin noticed Leon beyond the door, and let go of the gauntlet in surprise.

"No, Merlin," answered Ewan, who had not yet spotted the senior knight. "In fact, we are not leaving until you finish polishing our boots. You may belong to Arthur, but you ARE a servant you know. WE are to be knights, and you must do what we tell you, without delay. It's our duty to make sure you are kept in chores suitable for your station, right Alfred?"

Alfred, wasn't listening to Ewan, though, as he was busy finding his own way to plague the dark-haired boy.

"Oy, look here Ewan. Merlin has missed a spot on Arthur's gauntlet," he said, giving a mock inspection of the glove. Then, being sure to soil it first by rubbing his dirty fingers across the gleaming metal, he began to raise the offending equipment above his head. "You'd better come and get this, and then polish it again, Merlin. Arthur would never wear his armour in this state."

Leon was about to raise his voice to tell the young men to stop their torment of the young servant, and get back to the training ground. Unfortunately, before he had the chance, Uther arrived behind him and just in time to see Merlin pull the gauntlet forcefully back out of Alfred's hand.

Alfred released it rather than holding on, and unfortunately the unexpected momentum caused the clumsy servant to back into the bench where the pile of Arthur's carefully polished armour was sitting, knocking the bench over and scattering the armour all over the room, where it landed with a resounding and impressive crash.

As the last of the clatter died away, there followed a moment of complete silence as everyone in the room was shocked to realize that the King was present. Uther, unaware that Merlin had been provoked, stormed through the door and shouted, "What's going on here. I came for an inspection of my armoury only to see my son's equipment being treated like this?"

Ewan, unaware that Leon had seen the whole exchange, offered, "Yes, sire. We noticed that this serving boy was not doing a proper job of the polishing, and when we helpfully pointed out some of his neglect, he became defensive and tried to deny it. You see the result."

Leon frowned at Ewan. They both knew that this was untrue, or at very least, was a large stretch of the facts. Leon could not believe that Ewan would lie to his king, though.

Merlin also stood, pale and open-mouthed at the lie. He retorted, "But Sire, that's not what happened..."

"Silence," shouted Uther, glaring at Merlin. "You will spend the morning in the stocks for this. Maybe that will teach you some respect for my son's possessions."

"But, Sire, he's lying, I wasn't disrespecting anyth..." Merlin started again, but he broke off with a cry as Uther dealt him backhanded blow across the face. The strike had been full-force, and Leon could see that a vicious and rapidly reddening welt was already blooming where Merlin cradled his cheek in shock.

"You dare to gainsay one of my nobles?" Uther said coldly, and Merlin turned his gaze to the floor mumbling, "No, Sire."

Uther then went to the door and motioned two nearby guards inside.

"You will take this boy and have him locked in the stocks for three hours," Uther started, and Leon saw Merlin hunch his shoulders in dejection.

Uther continued, "But first, you will bring him to the castle steward who is to administer five strokes of the cane. That will hopefully remind this fool to attend to his duties properly in the future."

Merlin's eyes shot up in horror at the added punishment. "But, Sire, I..."

Uther glared at the boy and silenced him by pointing a gloved finger. Without removing his penetrating stare from the boy's face, he added quietly, clearly and coldly to the guards, "And then the steward will add five additional strokes to punish him for his insolence."

Then he said to Merlin through gritted teeth, "Now, boy, do you want me to add ten more strokes, or will you hold your tongue?"

Merlin looked sadly back down at the floor, not daring to either nod or shake his head, lest the king take his answer to the ambiguous question as more insolence.

"Guards, take him away," Uther finished.

Leon watched as the boy was grabbed and roughly pushed from the room with his arms firmly grasped behind his back. He managed to give Leon a look of... what... disappointment? as he was brought past the knight.

But although Leon had a vague feeling of guilt while watching the boy being led away, he also had no doubt that even if the boy did not truly deserve punishment in this case, there were surely any number of transgressions that he'd gotten away with in the past. This would simply be setting some of that to rights.

After all, the boy was just a servant, and from what he remembered from Arthur's complaints, a country-born peasant at that. Leon had seen that the boy was a hard worker, but from all else he'd been led to believe, hard-working or not, that type of person had no concept of knightly ideals like honour, responsibility, duty and nobility, and they had neither the wit nor inclination to act on those values even if they could understand them.

No, Leon thought, this type of boy needed simple orders, and a strong hand to set him right when those orders were not followed immediately and to the letter, so once the boy was out of the room Leon thought no more about him.

However, Leon did ponder over what to do about his two squires. He was outraged at their behaviour, especially at lying to the King. But to make it worse, Leon had noticed the smirks of amusement that had passed between Ewan and Alfred as the King had decreed the servant's punishment, and at Merlin's feeble attempts to argue.

It was one thing to put a servant in his place, and punish him for failing in his assigned duties, but it was quite another thing to first cause and then enjoy an unjustified punishment.

This was not honour, it was abuse.

So, while the king carried out his inspection of the armoury, Leon had the young men stand to attention outside the door, in waiting. By the time Uther was getting ready to leave, Leon had decided what to do. He said to the king, "Sire, since Ewan and Alfred have such a vested concern for Prince Arthur's armour, they will stay here to collect and carefully polish each piece that has fallen to the floor. Then they will continue on and take care of every other piece of equipment that you have brought to my attention during your inspection. I expect it will take them until the midday meal in order to do this job properly, so they are excused from the morning arms practice."

Ewan and Alfred gaped at Leon, but said nothing. They had been looking forward to the arms practice – it was among the favourite training exercises of the squires of Camelot, since young ladies of the court often strolled nearby to admire the prowess of the knights-in-training.

Also, Ewan and Alfred were senior squires, just awaiting their final initiation ceremony as knights, so they had not had to polish armour for several years. They were not relishing the time-consuming and tedious task ahead of them now.

Uther nodded at Leon, and then turned to the squires saying "Thank you, men." Then he added, "I trust you will take suitable care of this equipment. I expect every piece to be gleaming before our Lord Cambria arrives."

Then he turned to Leon with another nod and a small knowing smile, before taking his leave. Although the King did not know exactly what the young men had done, he knew that Leon was angry with them and that this was clearly meant to be a punishment.

* * *

Leon had just released his group of squires, minus his two truants of course, from their arms training and was walking towards the castle where he was to take his lunch with Arthur, in the Prince's chambers.

During the training session, Prince Arthur had told Leon that there had been a change in the plans regarding Lord Aelrod. King Uther now wanted Arthur, along with Ewan and Alfred as the senior squires, and Leon, representing the senior knights, to ride to the border to meet up with the Cambrians.

Uther thought that sending the Prince would impress Aelrod, and would also give his young heir some time to get to know Arthur and the squires, which would hopefully convince him to stay in Camelot.

The journey to the border with Cambria was not far, and provided they left just after the midday meal, Leon expected they'd be able to meet up with Lord Cambria and be back in time for a late supper, and maybe even some entertainment that evening.

Before going to the Prince's quarters, Leon intended first to stop at the armoury, to ensure that his squires had properly finished their polishing and to tell them of the plans for the afternoon, and then his own chambers to change into something suitable for an afternoon of travel.

He was smiling at the memory of Ewan and Alfred's expressions at being told they would be polishing armour for several hours, when he noticed Merlin crossing the courtyard in the distance.

The boy had obviously just been released from the stocks. He was covered from head to toe with rotted vegetables, causing Leon's smile to widen at the sight. The smile soon slid from his face though, as he could see the servant wincing in pain and rolling his shoulders. Leon remembered that the boy had been caned before being locked into the stocks, and he imagined that the last three hours would have been very uncomfortable for him.

Leon also saw that the boy was rubbing at his wrists as he walked, and the knight could clearly see the raw and reddened marks left by the manacles even from this distance. It looked like the guards had not been gentle when they restrained him. As he watched Merlin disappear into the castle ahead of him, Leon recalled that Merlin was Gaius' ward. He hoped that the physician had some salve to ease the boy's discomfort, and then shook his head wondering why he would care.

Not more than 30 minutes later, Leon looked up in surprise when Merlin walked into the Prince's chambers with lunch for Arthur.

Leon didn't see how he'd had the time, but boy had managed to clean himself up and change his clothes; Leon could see that his hair was still damp. He could also see a hint of the marks left from the manacles, though by the way Merlin had pulled his shirtsleeves out from under his jacket to cover his wrists, it seemed like the boy was trying to hide them.

"Ah Merlin," said Arthur imperiously, "There you are."

"I've been looking all over for you. And if you had been in my rooms getting on with your chores like you were supposed to, you would have known that Sir Leon was joining me for lunch," Arthur added mockingly.

Leon frowned. Had the prince not known of Merlin's punishment?

Merlin simply answered quietly, without daring to look at Leon, "I'm sorry, Sire but I was …..otherwise occupied."

Arthur responded in anger, "Well because you were derelict in your duties to me, you've created extra work for yourself.

"If you'd been here, you would have known that we are leaving immediately after lunch to travel to the border of Cambria, so now I need you to run, not walk, to the armoury and the store rooms to collect chainmail, swords and supplies for a half-day trip for myself, Sir Leon and squires Ewan and Alfred.

"But first, I need you to make another trip to the kitchen to get Sir Leon his lunch. And because you've got us all running late, you also need to bring lunch to both Ewan and Alfred so we all have a chance to eat before we leave.

"Then, once you've done that, I expect you to saddle all of our horses and bring the supplies and the horses to the courtyard. I wish to leave in one hour, and don't you dare arrive even one second late," Arthur spat out angrily.

Leon didn't know if he should say something about Merlin's actual whereabouts during the morning, but he finally decided that it was Arthur's responsibility to manage his servant. Perhaps the Prince knew about the punishment, and just didn't consider it a justification for Merlin failing in his duties.

Merlin had put the tray down on Arthur's desk, and was now gaping in disbelief at Arthur and his new orders.

"And how am I supposed to do all of that in an hour?" he said, equally angry. "Do you really expect to leave in an hour, or do you just want to make me fail in my duties again, because if you REALLY want to leave, then you'll need to find somebody to help me with some of this."

Leon was not sure why, since it was not the place of a servant to question his orders, but he found himself glad that the boy had the courage to stand up to the Prince. In any case, Merlin had made a very valid point. They really did need to leave within the hour, or they'd risk a long ride in darkness coming back. So it was ridiculous to ask of Merlin more than he could reasonably be expected to do in that time.

Arthur was not impressed though, "I don't care how you do it Merlin, but go. NOW."

Merlin looked like he was going to object again, so before giving the boy a chance, Leon defused the tension and offered a solution. "Arthur, I think I will see to the horses myself," he said rising from his seat.

He explained, "There are two young mares being broken in, and I'd like Ewan and Alfred to ride them. This will be just the right length of trip to put them through their paces, but I don't think Merlin has the experience yet to deal with saddling and kitting out half-trained animals, do you Merlin?" he added.

Merlin shook his head, and answered with a quiet "No," then asked, "But Sir Leon, what about your lunch? I will bring you your meal first, and then see to Ewan and Alfred."

Leon noticed with a smile that Merlin's lips pursed in distaste at the thought of having to serve his two nemeses, but to give him due credit, the boy did not try to conveniently forget about the duty, and in fact had suggested it himself.

"And then, while I get the supplies together, you'll be able to go and take care of the horses at the same time," Merlin concluded. "That will hopefully see us ready in an hour…. just like Prince Arthur has decreed," he added with a snort.

Leon nodded, and hid another smile at this last, then added to the plan. "Good. I will take care of the two mares, and my own mount."

"Then I'll start to get Arthur's horse ready, along with a mount for you, Merlin. But if you finish before I do, then I expect you come to the stables and help with these last two."

Merlin nodded his agreement, and then said cheekily to Arthur, "So does this meet with your Royal Approval, Sire?"

"Yes, yes. Just get on with it, _Mer_ lin," he answered, adding "but I still expect us to be on the road in an hour, so please ensure that you are less incompetent than usual."

With Arthur's 'Royal Approval' given, Merlin flashed a dimpled smile to the two men as he headed off to the kitchens.

Merlin had brought the lunches as promised, then had gone to the armoury and brought back the swords and mail. After helping Arthur and Leon into their armour, he left again, telling Arthur that he would bring Ewan and Alfred their equipment on his way to the supply room, where he intended to pack a tent, a blanket and some dried food for each man. They planned to move quickly, and while this was not meant to be an overnight journey, so the bags were to be light, Merlin thought it best to have some provisions just in case something unexpected happened.

It was with five minutes to spare that Merlin finally arrived at the stables, where Leon had almost finished getting Arthur's steed ready for the trip.

Merlin went to the stall where the docile nag he usually rode was kept, and Leon saw him ruffling her mane and whispering in her ear fondly before he put the saddle on her back. Leon had to smile at the affection the boy showed to the old horse. Remembering how Merlin had spoken of Gaius earlier that morning, he suspected that the boy was just generally kind-hearted and such affection came easily.

* * *

As they were leading the horses across the courtyard to where the supplies had been deposited in neat sacks just past the bottom of the castle steps, Leon had a sudden thought.

"Merlin, you've brought lunch for everyone else, but did you have anything to eat yourself?" he asked.

"Um, well, no. Not really," came the hesitant answer. "I didn't really have any time, what with Arthur wanting to leave so soon," he explained.

"You must be hungry. You started your day very early this morning, from what I saw," Leon said.

"Um.. I am, but I might have….well, Cook must like you. She gave you TWICE as many sausages as she'd given Arthur, and an extra bread slice too. And I was just so hungry, so I didn't think anybody would mind if I took a link or two…., but then again they probably would, here," Merlin admitted, looking over at Leon hesitantly as if he expected some punishment from the knight for having needed to eat.

Leon shook his head partly in amusement at Merlin's admission of the sausage thievery, partly in concern that the boy had needed to stoop to it, and partly wondering why he, a knight of Camelot, was amused rather than offended by the idea of a servant stealing from his plate.

"Anyway, the lunch period for the castle servants is meant to be BEFORE the cooks put out the food for the nobles, so I missed that because I got… you know… out of the stocks too late," Merlin added, breaking into Leon's thoughts, and Leon saw him rub his wrists a bit at the memory of his morning punishment.

"But it doesn't really matter because missing a meal is nothing new, working for Arthur," Merlin said. Then realizing that he may have sounded like he was criticizing the Prince, he continued, "I mean, with Arthur it's just that I don't seem to work the same routine as the other servants. Arthur sometimes sends me to the stables or the kennels, or makes me spar with him, or at least go to his training sessions in case there is something that needs fixing, so it's hard to get back to the kitchens for the official mealtimes.

"I guess by the time we get back tonight I'll have missed the servants' suppertime too," he added to himself sadly. They'd arrived at the bags now, and started to secure them to the horses.

"Anyway, I'll have to attend to Arthur," he pondered before looking up at Leon and saying earnestly, "I just hope that Gaius has gotten some new food supplies for our chambers, otherwise I guess I'll have to wait for breakfast tomorrow!"

Leon looked at him in surprise, and said "Tomorrow? But Merlin, you can't work all day on just one sausage!"

Merlin smiled in surprise at the knight's apparent concern, saying "Don't worry, Sir Leon, I did manage to take a bread roll this morning when I got finished up with grinding those herbs for Gaius. And in Ealdor, where I'm from, food was a little scarce at times, so one meal a day there was pretty common, especially in the winter. I'm used to it."

Leon shook his head. He knew it to be true that the poorer villages frequently had to ration food in times of drought or through long winters, but he'd never really appreciated that somebody even from such a place could get 'used' to that type of deprivation. Looking over at the thin frame of the serving boy though, he supposed it must be true. He'd certainly never heard Merlin complain about being hungry, though he'd heard plenty of other bantering complaints between the boy and the Prince, and yet it seemed that hunger was a frequent situation for him.

Well, Leon thought, he could help out with that a little bit today. He rummaged around in the pouch that was tied into his cloak to serve as a pocket, and pulled out an apple from small collection that he'd brought to treat his horse. "Here, Merlin. Take this – it may help stretch out the benefit from that sausage."

Merlin took the apple and smiled broadly. "Thank you, Sir Leon," then added somewhat sheepishly, "and, well… it was actually two sausages….. but… that still left you with more than Cook gave to Arthur."

Leon laughed at this, but then Arthur, Ewan and Alfred came down the castle stairs, and the travelling party was soon mounted up and on their way.


	2. Chapter 2

The trip to the border was uneventful and quick, even though the day had turned cool and rainy again after the early morning sunshine. The Lord of Cambria and his son were already waiting at the border along with a few of his knights. Once the Camelot group drew near, Lord Aelrod sent these knights back to the Cambria hold, and the rest of group was on the way back to Camelot within minutes of their meeting.

In spite of the weather, Arthur and the squires were in good spirits, and Leon knew they welcomed the opportunity to show off a bit in front of Lord Aelrod and his son. The son, Roran, was of an age with the three, and they seemed to fall into a fast and easy camaraderie. Leon and Lord Aelrod rode behind them, with Leon telling Lord Aelrod about the current goings on in Camelot.

Merlin brought up the rear of the party, as was the usual place for a servant, but Leon thought that the boy's energy had flagged since the beginning of the trip. He originally thought this was a result of the teasing Merlin had been getting from Arthur, mainly about his riding skills, or lack of them.

"Merlin, you look like a bag of rocks sitting on that horse," Arthur had teased.

"Maybe, but unlike you, I've only been on a horse a few times, and I'm not well-padded towards the saddle like you are, either. Sire!" came the retort.

"Merlin, you're going to saw that horse in two pulling at the bit that way," said Ewan, shaking his head in disgust.

But by early in the ride back to Camelot, Merlin's cheeky retorts had tapered out, and the boy now rode without speaking. Leon could see that he was weary by the hunch of his shoulders and the way his head nodded, as if Merlin was having trouble keeping his eyes open. He also appeared to be in pain, and not just from being saddle-sore. No doubt his morning punishments were catching up to him, aggravated by the hard ride on the slippery roads. Leon had seen Merlin try to ease his discomfort by rolling his shoulders and fidgeting in his saddle, and he'd also clutched at his lower back a few times with a grimace. Leon felt a definite twinge of guilt for his part in the unjustified punishment, and was even impressed that the boy made no complaint. But he was sure that Merlin knew it would be unthinkable to consider slackening the pace for the comfort of a mere servant.

Still though, maybe for a horse... "Arthur, might we slow down a pace or two?" Leon asked. "I've been watching Merlin's old nag, and she's having a bit of trouble keeping up, likely from all of the mud in the path. I don't think the Horse Master will appreciate it if we bring her in lame."

"You're probably right, Leon," answered Arthur with a sigh, looking back at Merlin's nag. "Okay then, a little bit slower. We wouldn't want Merlin's horse to be hurt, after all. It's easy enough to get a new servant, but good horses are hard to come by!"

Merlin didn't respond with his usual cheek, but Leon smiled to himself when he saw the boy sigh in relief once they'd adopted the slower pace.

Unfortunately, the change of pace also meant that the two squires became bored and restless, and they started to amuse themselves by speeding up then abruptly stopping their horses to see if one squire could unseat the other. Leon was just about to remind them that the two mares were still only half-trained, and this would only confuse and distress them, when Ewan's horse kicked out causing Alfred's to rear up, unhorsing the young man.

Unfortunately, this occurred at exactly the worst possible point along the roadway and the squire was thrown down the rocky bank and into the swiftly flowing river that they'd been following. He quickly began to sink, borne down by the weight of his chain mail.

The still-rearing horse, along with the falling rider abruptly crossing her path then caused Ewan's mare to lose her footing and she slipped down the slope into the water as well, taking her rider with her. In her terror, she tried to get as far away from the disturbance as she could, and headed straight out for the middle of the rain-swollen river.

Leon didn't know how he'd managed it, but before any of the remaining nobles could even call out, Merlin, who must have seen everything unfold in front of him from his place at the rear of the party, had already jumped from his horse and was scrambling down the river bank before Ewan and his horse had even reached the water.

Leon and the rest of the travelling party watched the fast-moving events in shock, and at last began to dismount. While they had only begun to clamber down the river bank, Merlin had already reached the water and dived several times to try to reach Alfred. The squire had been carried downstream by the current into the deeper, muddy water and was unable to keep himself afloat due to the combined weight of his cloak, his mail, his sword and his now-water-filled boots.

Merlin finally managed to grab the thrashing young man and tried to manoeuver him so he could be pulled to shore, but all of a sudden something caused the servant to let go and Leon heard him cry out in pain. Leon thought that the boy must have been kicked underwater by the panicking squire. The servant didn't let it phase him for long though, and Leon saw him shake off whatever injury he had taken and grab the struggling squire around the neck.

But Alfred must have been stuck on something in the water, and it was preventing Merlin from making any progress. Leon saw that Merlin had reached one arm across the squire's upper body, and released the clasp on his cloak allowing it to sink beneath the surface, but still Alfred was held fast. Finally Merlin reached under the squire and appeared to be pushing at something. Leon was not sure exactly what he'd done, but it must have worked because Alfred came free at last, and the servant was finally able to move them both towards the shore, swimming at an angle to the bank in order minimize the fight against the current.

As soon as Alfred had been grabbed by Aelrod and Roran, who had waded in at the river's edge, Merlin headed back towards the middle of the river, to where Ewan had been carried by his inexperienced horse. Leon and Arthur had removed their mail and boots by then, and were also beginning to wade towards the young man, but Merlin was much closer since he had already been carried downstream in the same direction as the squire while rescuing Alfred.

"Ewan, just dismount from the horse and head to shore," shouted Arthur to the second squire.

"I cannot," shouted back Ewan in panic, "I can't swim!"

"You don't need to, you idiot. The water is only shoulder-deep there, you should just be able to walk out," countered Arthur.

But it was too late, since just then a large branch struck the horse causing it to panic and thrash in the water. Ewan was dislodged, but was not able to free himself from his stirrups and reins, which caused the horse to panic further, submerging the squire several times before he finally came loose.

Luckily, Merlin was now close enough to grab hold of the dazed squire's cloak before Ewan sunk beneath the water again, and he began the difficult trip back to shore with his charge in tow. Unfortunately, Merlin had not been quick enough to grab the horse and, released from her bindings, she splashed her way to the opposite shore and made off as quickly as she could, with all of Ewan's supplies still secured.

Leon and Arthur both watched in dismay as the horse disappeared, but since they were finally close enough to grab Ewan, they turned back to haul him out of the water. The squire seemed more wet and embarrassed than hurt, and they were able to get him to his feet and moving up the slope in a short time. Midway through the climb, Leon looked briefly back to see that Merlin was still not out of the river. The boy lay half-in, half-out of the water, breathing heavily and holding his head in his hands, evidently too spent to pull himself the rest of the way out yet.

Once they'd reached the top, Leon left Arthur to bring Ewan over to where Aelrod and Roran already had Alfred wrapped in a blanket. The knight went back to the edge of the river bank to see if Merlin needed some help. He smiled slightly in relief when he saw that the drenched boy had finally managed to get himself out of the river, and was now making a slow and careful climb up the slippery slope. Leon's smile faded when he noticed that Merlin seemed to be favouring a leg as he came, though it was hard to be sure. Once the boy was near the top, Leon reached out hand and helped him up over the edge.

"Thank you, Sir Leon," said Merlin, water still streaming from his hair and his clothing as he bent over with his hands on the tops of his thighs in order to catch his breath. "I wasn't sure I'd be able to make it back up."

"That's all right, Merlin," answered Leon, then asked "Are you hurt? What happened to your leg?"

Merlin looked up in surprise at the concern in the knight's voice and stammered, "Oh, I guess I'm okay. It's just that I might have hurt my knee a bit when I went after Alfred. He has very sturdy boots..."

Leon nodded his agreement, as Alfred was well known for his pride in his expensive, steel-toed boots, and said, "Well, you should try to avoid walking on it for a little while, or you may make it worse, Merlin."

Merlin was not given much time to recover, however, as Arthur was already striding over to the two men at the top of the slope.

"Leon, I think we will need to camp near here overnight," he said. "Alfred and Ewan won't be able to continue without getting a chance to dry off and warm up a bit, and by then it will be too dark to risk travelling on the muddy road, especially since we've lost Ewan's horse and Alfred's mare hasn't calmed enough yet to be ridden."

"Of course, Sire," replied Leon, "I remember there being a clearing about two hundred paces ahead and on the other side of the road. Let's make for there and set up."

Arthur nodded his agreement, then turned to Merlin and said, "Merlin, you did pack emergency travel kits like I asked, didn't you? Aelrod and Roran have brought their own.

"Yes, of course Arthur, but Ewan's was lost when his horse ran off to the far bank," Merlin answered, looking over to where the other animals were being held by Roran.

"Yes, I realize that," said Arthur, then continued, "Well, before we can move out you will need first to see to Alfred, as I think he's hurt his arm. I assume Gaius has managed to get some basic first aid drilled into that idiotic head of yours by now, and I see that Ewan looks to have found something to use for bandages."

The three turned and began to walk over to where the rest of the group were waiting. Alfred was sitting on the ground, and Ewan had indeed found something that he was tearing into strips. Aelrod was adjusting his pack and trying to calm Alfred's fractious mare that seemed to have developed a limp, and Roran was standing to the side, holding the reins of the five remaining horses.

As they got closer, Merlin cried out in dismay, "Oy, is that my spare shirt you are using?"

"Yes," said Ewan, as he tore another strip. "Mine was lost, and the others are much too fine to be used as bandages. Yours is the only thing suitable that I could find. It's not my fault if you did not think to bring adequate supplies."

"But I DID bring bandaging," retorted Merlin angrily. "You've gone through my pack, so why were you not able to see these? They were right near the top," Merlin added, pulling out a roll of bandaging materials from the pack that Ewan had carelessly dropped on the ground. "Now, please give me back my shirt."

Ewan stalked off to join Roran after he had handed back the remains of the shirt, but Leon saw it would be irreparable, as Ewan had been tearing strips from top to bottom and had made use of at least half of the garment. Merlin took it anyway, and shoved it back into his pack in dismay.

Arthur quirked his mouth, and Leon was slightly angered at the thought that the Prince might be amused by Merlin's misfortune. Leon was not amused, though, as he knew that the boy was at least as cold and wet as Alfred, probably even more so, and now he had nothing dry to change into.

But Merlin surprised Leon when rather than making any further complaint, he simply took the bandages and went immediately over to where Alfred sat then proceeded to gently check over the squire's wounds. After bandaging up the worst scratches, he walked slowly back to where Arthur and Leon still stood, and said, "Well, he seems to be okay other than a few scrapes and bruises, most likely from falling down that river bank. But he's not talking very much, and maybe it's just because he's cold, but I wonder if he may have hit his head at some point when he fell. It's quite rocky there after all. I think we should watch him tonight. Gaius says that head wounds are tricky, and we should wake the patient every hour to make sure he's really all right."

"Good then. Fine," answered Arthur in relief and also some impatience. "Can we get moving now?"

"I think he's fine to walk, as long as we are not going too far, but he should rest soon," said Merlin, and Leon was impressed that the boy seemed to have taken so quickly to the physicians' art. He certainly seemed confident in telling his betters about his medical recommendations, anyway.

Once they had gotten Alfred to his feet, the group made their way toward the clearing Leon had pointed out.

In spite of Leon's advice to keep off his leg, Merlin was forced to limp along behind the rest, since Ewan had commandeered the boy's nag to replace his own runaway mare. Leon was also afoot and leading Alfred's nervous mare, having given up his mount to the still subdued squire.

"Come on, Merlin, get moving," shouted Arthur to his servant who had now dropped back from the main group in his weariness. "You will have a lot to do to set up once we reach the camp."

Leon saw the boy sigh in resignation as he tried to catch up to the rest of the group.

  


* * *

  


Once they reached the clearing, Roran and Aelrod took out their packs and began to set up their tents, while Ewan pulled a couple of logs over to use as seats near a site where they would be able to build a campfire. He then helped Alfred over to sit on one of the logs, and began to prepare the ground for the fire.

Leon volunteered to take care of the horses. While he began to collect them to bring to the far side of the clearing, he heard Arthur giving orders to his servant.

"Merlin, you will need to gather some firewood and get us a fire going. Then get the food from our packs. I will try to snare us a hare or two to replace what Ewan lost.

"Also," he continued, before Merlin left to begin his tasks, "You will need to set up the tents for Alfred and myself. You can give Ewan yours, since his was lost."

Leon shook his head at this. In his opinion the whole misadventure was due to the two squires' ill-advised horseplay. Though Alfred had already paid a price for it, he thought that a night sleeping in the rain would be a well-earned punishment for Ewan. But he could only assume that Arthur did not want the visiting Lord to see a servant in a tent when a noble was left unsheltered, so he did not say anything.

It turned out to be a moot point though, because Merlin then said, "But I don't have a tent, Arthur."

Leon was surprised that the boy would forget to pack for himself, when he'd already shown himself to be so resourceful that day.

Arthur must have had the same thought, as he spat angrily, "Merlin, I can't believe that even you would be so stupid as to not pack a tent in your own kit. Well, yes I can. I can absolutely believe it, you idiot."

"But, I didn't forget, Arthur," Merlin protested. "Those tents are for the use of the nobles. Servants are not allowed to take them for themselves. The last time I tried it, the Supply Master ….. he… well, he got very angry at me."

Leon saw the boy roll his shoulders at the memory, and thought that the Master's 'anger' must have translated into a beating for the boy.

"Really?" said Arthur in surprise. "I didn't realize...," he added, and Leon was surprised to hear a note of apology in the Prince's tone.

"And the food for the packs?" Arthur asked, more gently.

"Same thing," came the answer. Merlin sounded perplexed and Leon assumed he'd thought that Arthur knew about such rules.

"I don't have a tent of my own, but usually I'd be able to at least scrounge something from Gaius' supplies to put in my pack for food. But today you were in such a rush to get going that I didn't really get the chance," he added with a slight hint of accusation in his voice.

"Well, it can't be helped then," concluded Arthur. "We'll just have to share. As we change watches, whoever is coming off of his watch can take the tent of the person taking over."

Leon noticed that this plan still left Merlin without a tent, and was somewhat saddened that Arthur's apologetic note had not garnered Merlin any shelter for even part of that night. The boy was sodden and already shivering in the cool evening air. Leon thought it a blessing that the rain still held off, but he didn't expect it would do so for the whole night. Still though, he thought as he led the horses over to where he wanted to put them for the night, the boy had come without any tent so Leon guessed that this would not be anything unexpected for him.

Leon took his time picketing and then rubbing down the animals with a horse blanket he had in his pack. As he headed back, he saw that the nobles had now all moved to sit on the logs near the fire which Merlin was just trying to light. Alfred, who already looked much better, and Arthur were skinning a pair of rabbits the Prince had caught. The other men were all checking over their swords to be sure that nothing had been damaged in the rain or in the hurried descent down the river bank.

Leon watched Merlin for a minute. It looked like it should be a difficult task to get the fire going, given how wet everything was, but somehow the boy managed to get the kindling burning in almost no time. Leon thought with a smile that lighting fires must need to be one of the first skills any servant had to master.

As Merlin began to feed in the larger branches, Leon saw Ewan rise from where he had been seated beside Alfred. Leon knew that the squire was still embarrassed about having needed to be rescued and about his part in causing the whole fiasco, so he would be looking for any excuse to shift the blame and humiliation on to somebody else.

Unfortunately, Merlin was the only real candidate, so Leon was not surprised when the squire came striding over to the servant in anger.

"You idiot," he shouted, giving the boy a push which caused him to end up sitting on the muddy ground with a look of confusion on his face.

"Here we are, in the rain and three hours from Camelot in the middle of bandit-infested territory, and YOU decided to drop Alfred's sword in the middle of the river! He just told me so himself!

"And then you couldn't have grabbed the reins to my horse, when she was right beside you. Oh no! YOU had to let her get away and now you've cost Camelot a good horse if we don't find her. I hope they dock your pay for that, and I'm sure she was worth ten years at your wages.

Merlin's eyes widened in horror at this threat and he looked towards Arthur to see if the Prince seemed like he might be considering it, but Ewan wasn't finished yet.

"It's a good thing I managed to keep my presence of mind and hang on to my sword, or no doubt you would have flung that into the middle of the river too!"

Merlin opened and closed his mouth, speechless in his astonishment at the accusations. But then Leon saw a little bit of the spirit he'd come to associate with the boy return to his weary eyes, and Merlin stood and shouted back angrily, "What are you talking about, you prat? Were you at the same river as I was?

"I'm sorry about Alfred's sword, but it's not like I had any choice. It was stuck in the weeds and pulling him under. It was either save the sword or save Alfred, and I couldn't have swum back in that current with both of them anyway.

"And as for your horse and your 'presence of mind': if you'd had any of THAT at all, you would have been able tell that you could have just waded out of that river leading your horse happily behind you.

"So don't you go blaming ME for losing her. I'm almost sorry I didn't just let her drag you with her when she ran!"

At that, Ewan's face turned scarlet, and he looked towards Arthur for support.

"Arthur, tell this idiot of a SLAVE that he cannot talk to me like that!

"Not only that, but I think he should go back and find that sword that he so stupidly left in the middle of that river. We may well need the extra weapon tonight, since it seems we are stuck here."

When Arthur made no immediate answer, Leon looked around at the rest of the travellers, to see what they were making of the confrontation. Most were watching the shouting match with interest. Arthur also had a small smile on his face, as though he was amused, but Aelrod looked disapproving.

For his part, Leon had had enough of Ewan's behaviour. The squire was out of line. Everybody else had seen that Merlin had done no wrong during the rescue. On the other hand, the servant had just talked back in blatant disrespect to someone of the nobility.

Unfortunately, Leon did not know Aelrod well enough to guess what views he held on the proper behaviour for a servant, so he did not know if the Lord's look of disapproval was aimed at Ewan's misdirected outrage, or at Merlin's outburst. Since Leon did not want to risk offending the man by telling off the squire rather than the serving boy, he held his tongue.

Leon was starting to question his own views, though. A day earlier and he knew he would have been angrily waiting for Arthur to punish the boy for his insolence, regardless of whether it was provoked or not.

He would have been certain that, just as when training a dog, a commoner must never be allowed to show anything but absolute obedience and respect to a member of the nobility, especially a knight, no matter the circumstances.

Now, though, he'd seen that a servant, or at least _this_ servant, could act every bit as courageously and responsibly as any noble. More so, if Leon was truthful to himself. So could it not also be true that such people should be allowed to speak out and be heard, even when their views went against those of their masters?

He doubted that the others would see it that way though, and so he was pleasantly surprised when the Prince answered, taking the side of his servant rather than his friend. Leon wondered if maybe Arthur had been having the same doubts.

"That's quite enough, Ewan," said the Prince. "Merlin here did his best and more, anyone could see that."

At that, Merlin shifted a little bit in relief, but it was short-lived since Arthur looked apologetically at the boy and continued, "But Ewan is right about one thing. We need to get that sword back if we can. We may need it tonight."

Ewan smirked in triumph even though Arthur's tone was decidedly regretful when he added, "So, Merlin, since we've still got about an hour before it gets too dark, I need you to go back to the river, and try to find it."

Merlin stared at the Prince in open-mouthed shock, then protested, "Go back into the river? But Arthur, how am I supposed to find it? It was in the middle of the fastest flowing area. For all we know it's been carried away by now!"

"I don't know Merlin," the Prince admitted, "but you must at least make the attempt. I can only ask you to do your best. Now best get going before you lose the light, but don't linger overlong."

Merlin looked like he might protest again, but then he must have realized that it would be fruitless, so he simply sighed, shook his head sadly, and then turned without speaking another word and limped dejectedly towards the road.


	3. Chapter 3

Leon frowned as he watched the boy disappear down the roadway. Surely it was a pointless exercise to make the tired servant go back into the roiling water in the hope that he'd be able to find the missing sword.

Shaking his head, he turned back to the rest of the travelling party and decided that Ewan looked entirely too pleased with himself. "Ewan," snapped the senior knight "Since we are now missing our cook, you have been nominated for the duty. Go and get the food and find something to cook it in, and get some of the water we brought back from the river and get a stew going. Hurry up now, I'm starving!"

The others laughed at Ewan's expression of disbelief at being ordered to do a servant's work, but the squire soon realized that Leon was serious, so he simply pretended that he'd intended to do it all along, and got busy with the cooking. Soon there was a respectable meal ready, and the knights emptied the pot in a very short time.

As he put aside his bowl, Leon realized that he'd still seen no sign of Merlin, and it was beginning to get dark. "Arthur, I'm going to check on your servant," he said. "It's time he came back, sword or no."

"Thanks, Leon," came the answer from across the campfire, "I was just thinking the same thing, so you will save me a trip."

Leon stood, but before he made it to the road, there was a shout of warning from Roran. A rather large group of bandits had begun to slip into the clearing from the forest opposite the road, so Leon rushed back to join the battle.

Leon was fighting off two of the outlaws when he spotted Merlin. Even as distracted as he was by the battle, the knight noticed that the boy was dripping wet, shivering and blue-lipped, and yet somehow here he was, clutching Alfred's sword in his hand. Leon wondered how on earth the servant had managed to find it, given the short amount of time he'd had to look, but had to put that thought aside when one of the bandits took a vicious slice at his face.

The knight thought that Merlin would surely hide himself, since the bandits had not yet noticed him. But he was wrong, and luckily so for Ewan's sake. One of the thugs had knocked the squire to the ground and was about to run him through. As Ewan lay dazed, Merlin ran over and using Alfred's retrieved sword, the servant struck the bandit down. Then the boy stared in horror at the sword and at the blood on his hand and Leon saw him blanch. The knight wondered for a moment if the boy might faint or be sick, but Merlin pulled himself together just in time to notice another of the outlaws closing in on the downed squire.

Then it seemed that for once on this trip, luck was on the side of the travelling party, as a large branch above the man just happened to break at exactly the moment he rushed under it, knocking him to the ground. That gave Ewan enough time to regain his senses enough to be able to scramble to his feet and the squire finished the bandit off in short order.

By then Leon had also dispatched the two bandits he'd been fighting. He turned in time to see another of the outlaws coming up behind Arthur, but unfortunately Arthur had not noticed since he was already engaged with two others. Leon cried out a warning and began to rush over, even though he knew it would be almost impossible for him to get there in time to provide any help.

But fortunately Merlin had noticed the threat to Arthur even before Leon had, and had already run over so that he was now close enough to slash at the bandit from behind. The surprised man noticed just in time, and managed to lean away, and then he reacted by turning and slamming his shield directly into Merlin's elbow using a violent uppercut. The boy cried out in pain but somehow still managed to hold onto the borrowed sword.

As luck would have it, with the sword still pointed upward, Merlin instinctively brought his arm down to cradle his injured elbow at exactly the same time as the bandit tried to return down to a fighting stance. As a result, the bandit ended up impaling himself on the sword's point. Merlin gaped in surprise at the sudden deadweight, and finally dropped the sword, while still cradling his arm.

Then at last the shock of the battle caught up to the boy, and Leon watched him drop to his hands and knees, retching violently onto the ground. Of course, the knights and squires were well acquainted with battles and bandits already, and felt only euphoria but no guilt at having so decisively and quickly fought off the outlaws.

Taking no immediate notice of the servant, they left Merlin to his misery and quickly made to drag the bodies away from the clearing. By the time they returned, Leon saw that the boy had moved into the camp and was sitting on one of the logs in front of the fire hugging himself and rocking slowly back and forth in fatigue and despair.

Leon had hoped that Arthur would give the boy some time to come to grips with what must have been his first battle, and so was disappointed when the Prince approached his servant with a look of disapproval.

"Merlin," the Prince said with a touch of anger, "I'm glad to see that you found the sword, but I won't have you sitting here and moping over a gang of outlaws. We're lucky that they didn't make it past the edge of the clearing, so we've still got our horses and all of our supplies, not to mention our lives.

"Now, there is plenty to do before we bed down for the night. I want you to start by cleaning up the cooking pot and the dishes, and packing them away. Then you can make sure we've got enough firewood and stoke the fire so it will burn through the night."

Arthur turned and pointed over towards the log at the other side of the fire, and continued, "Then you can check on the clothing that everybody has spread out over there while you were looking for the sword. Take whatever is dry and fold it and pack it away.

"If you find anything that's not quite dry, put it inside the tents. It may rain again tonight, and I don't want our things to get any wetter than they already are.

"Yes, Sire" came Merlin's sad and quiet reply as he stood to start on this latest list of chores. As the boy lifted his head, Leon could see that his eyes were red-rimmed, and then Leon had a horrible thought. The nobles had not left the boy even one mouthful of the stew, so although he would have to clean up the remains of everyone else's meals, Merlin was to go hungry yet again! Leon was disgusted that neither he nor Arthur had thought to save the boy anything, but there was little he could do about it now, so he said nothing. He had also learned enough about Merlin that day that he was not surprised when the servant made no complaint either.

A short time later, Leon and Aelrod were sitting on the log by the fire, cleaning the grime from the short battle from their swords and mail, while Merlin carried out his tasks on the other side. The servant had finished with the washing up, and was now working on the pile of shirts that had been set out to dry. Leon noticed that Merlin had retrieved the packs from the tents and lined them up against the log. This would let him pack the dried clothes away without needing to walk back and forth to each tent.

Merlin sighed as he worked, and Leon saw him rub his fingers against Arthur's dry shirt with longing before folding and putting it into the Prince's pack. He was almost finished when Arthur, the two squires and Roran walked over to where he was working.

Although Alfred was still a little bit pale and quiet, all four of the young nobles were relaxed and in good spirits in spite of the day's events, and Leon suspected they were looking for some fun. They soon found their sport by teasing Merlin.

"I'm still hungry, Arthur. Let's see what Merlin has stashed away in his pack. I know these servants, and I'll bet he's stolen a chicken dinner from the kitchen and is just waiting for us to sleep before he has a little feast."

Ewan reached over and grabbed Merlin's pack from the ground and started to root around in it.

"Hey, that's MY pack," Merlin cried, reaching out and trying to grab the bag back from Ewan, who just moved it behind his back and out of Merlin's reach.

"Merlin, Merlin, Merlin," said Arthur in mocking reproach. "You should know your place by now… I am your MASTER, and as such everything you have is on my sufferance. So this is not YOUR pack, it is, in fact, mine."

Leon gave a half-smile, watching the banter. He waited for Merlin to argue back, as he knew the servant could usually hold his own with Arthur. But his smile faltered as he saw Merlin gasp in pain and clutch his elbow to his side, then limp away to sit down on the log across the fire from the others, shivering and hugging himself, his head bowed in resignation.

Taking a careful look at the servant, Leon frowned in dismay. The boy was still wet and bedraggled from the adventure in the river, and it seemed that the bandit shield must have caused some damage to his arm too.

The knight concluded that Merlin must simply be so cold and wet and sore that he could not fight back against the bullying nobles the way he usually did. No wonder the boy had looked so longingly at Arthur's shirt, since Leon now remembered that his own spare one had been taken for bandages.

Leon's dismay then turned to anger at his peers when he looked over and saw that their behaviour was now going beyond teasing. Apparently the Prince and the squires actually had every intention of commandeering Merlin's meagre provisions.

"Ahh, I knew it! Well, it's just a bread roll after all, but I suppose it will do," cried out Ewan, taking a mouthful before throwing the rest to Arthur.

"Did you steal it from my plate, Merlin?" said Arthur spitefully, taking his own mouthful before throwing the last piece back to Ewan who finished it off.

Merlin didn't answer, though he watched Arthur and the squires with a resigned sigh as they rummaged through his pack. Leon suspected that that this was because Merlin had indeed taken the roll from Arthur's plate, though the knight now also knew that it was more a matter of necessity than a whim.

But then something else in the pack caught Ewan's interest. "Oy, look here. Merlin's brought us a blanket…."

Arthur laughed, and said, "I'm not sure that this thing even qualifies as something so grand as a blanket, Ewan. My dogs have better than this in the kennels!"

Then Ewan mocked the servant, "Merlin, you knew Alfred was cold and injured, and you never thought to offer him this little comfort? Tsk, tsk. Are you not Gaius' boy? He'd have your head if he knew you had failed your physician's duties like that.

"But don't worry, I guess you must just have forgotten, … the poor little peasant boy must have been simply overwhelmed at all this knightly action, I think, eh Arthur? We will remedy your lapse Merlin. This blanket will help poor, poor Alfred quite nicely tonight."

At that, Leon was surprised when Alfred spoke up, since the young man had been very quiet since his rescue.

"Ewan, that's okay. I think I should be warm enough with my cloak and the blanket in my own pack. I think we should leave this one to Merlin."

But Ewan was having none of it, and countered, "Well, then, I think he should let me take it, since it's his fault that he let my horse get away, and it took my pack and so my blanket with it."

Nobody contradicted Ewan, so with that statement the squire upended Merlin's pack and a threadbare blanket and the remains of Merlin's spare shirt along with some bandages fell to the ground. Leon could see that there was nothing left in the pack. He frowned and looked over to see whether Merlin would protest, but the boy stayed silent.

With Merlin's lack of retaliation, the young nobles soon tired of their game and fell to talking amongst themselves for a little while, before Arthur stood and said "Okay then, I think we need to call it a night. I want to get underway early tomorrow so we are back in Camelot before lunch. Leon, will you wake me to take over your watch?"

Yes, Sire," answered Leon. Roran and Aelrod had already volunteered to take the first shifts, and Ewan and Alfred were to be spared the duty in order to rest following their ordeals.

"Wait, Sire," spoke up Merlin, getting up off the log and showing a bit more of the liveliness that Leon was used to from him.

"Alfred hit his head and might be concussed. Remember how I told you that Gaius would want him to be woken every hour?"

"Well, Merlin," said Arthur, "I think you are overreacting. Alfred has been just fine this evening, and both he and Ewan need their sleep tonight. As do Leon and I, if we are to be effective during our watches tonight.

"And I'm not about to ask Roran and Aelrod to check up on him, so, I'm afraid that if you really feel Alfred needs to be woken each hour, you will need to be the one to stay up and do it."

Merlin looked for a moment like he might argue, but then just sighed and said "Fine, Sire," before going back to sit on the log as the nobles, other than Roran, followed Arthur's lead.

Leon looked back and saw Merlin shaking his head slowly in sad, resignation as he watched them walk towards their tents.

* * *

Several hours later Leon woke to the sound of Merlin's soft voice saying, "Sir Leon, Lord Aelrod sent me to wake you for your turn at shift". This was accompanied by a gentle shaking of his shoulders.

The knight yawned and stretched, surprised at how refreshed he felt after so little sleep. Then after pulling on his boots he rose and went outside to where Lord Aelrod was still sitting by the fire.

In the meantime, Merlin had gone over to Alfred's tent. Leon guessed that he was doing one of his hourly checks on the squire.

Although his shift had ended, Aelrod seemed to be in no hurry to go to his tent, so Leon sat down beside him on the log.

Merlin had come back, carrying a pair of boots with him; Alfred's, judging by the glint of steel that flashed as they caught the light of the fire. Leon watched as the boy walked around to the far side of the fire and put them down. Merlin then took a stick and drew a short line in the dirt. The knight could just make out that there were already four rows of six marks each, and Merlin had just started a new row. "Ah", said Leon to himself as he caught on. Merlin was marking time in ten minute increments, so he would know when to rouse Alfred again.

Accounting done, Merlin then stood and to Leon's surprise, quickly pulled off his tunic. In the shadows caused by the flickering fire, the knight thought he saw some deep bruising where the boy had been hit by the bandit earlier, but it was too dark to be sure. Before Leon could get a better look, though, Merlin had pulled on his patched jacket to replace the red shirt, which Leon could now see had been laid out on the log for its turn to dry out. Merlin then sat, shivering, and picking up one of Alfred's boots began polishing it with a bit of cloth.

Leon noticed that Aelrod also watched the boy with curiosity.

"Sir Leon," said the dignified Lord in low voice. "I was not aware that Camelot practiced slavery. What crime has that boy committed?"

Leon looked up in surprise at the question and then remembered back to the shouting match between Merlin and the angry squire.

"Oh, do you mean the comment that Ewan made?" Leon asked, frowning. "No, Merlin is not a slave; he is Prince Arthur's manservant. Why did you think he was a criminal?"

"Well, I've been watching the boy and he has been working all night," answered the Lord. "Roran told me the same thing. And he seems to get very little in the way of compensation for his diligence."

"Compensation?" Leon asked, confused, "He does get a monthly wage, if that is what you mean."

"Well, maybe 'consideration' would be a better word," said Aelrod, who then went on to clarify, "Even in this unfortunate experience, you and I have managed to find at least some warmth, food and rest, and yet the boy has seen none of that, and I was wondering why."

But before Leon could think of an answer, the Lord continued, "In Cambria, we value all of our people. We believe that no matter their station in life, everyone has a role to play in the well-being of our kingdom.

"But we do practice slavery. It's reserved for criminals, and to pay for their crimes they are forced into servitude. And since by their crimes they have caused loss and hurt to others, it is expected and even encouraged that they in turn experience at least some ridicule and deprivation from their masters.

"When I saw how the boy is treated, I just assumed that he must be a criminal….."

Leon was taken aback that Lord Aelrod would think of Merlin's treatment as akin to slavery, so he looked for the arguments to prove otherwise. Paraphrasing the knights' code, he said "Lord Aelrod, in Camelot we believe that it is the duty and responsibility of every knight to act with honour and nobility and to ensure that those who serve and depend on them are able to live their lives confident that their security and welfare are in good hands.

But as he said it, the knight realized that he… they… all of them… were not really doing this where Merlin was concerned. Aelrod was right, and the boy was being treated very much like a slave. He was expected to serve them no matter how unreasonable or difficult the request and they offered him neither security nor comfort nor care in return. In fact, it seemed that on this day they had not even provided the servant with the barest of human necessities..

Knowing that Aelrod would also have noticed this, he hastened to explain that what the Lord had seen today was not normal.

"I know it may not seem that we've done that for Merlin," said Leon, "but you must understand that because of the events of the day, no one is at his best.

"Where Arthur and the squires do like to tease the boy, it is not usually quite so mean-spirited." The knight glanced over to where Merlin still sat polishing Alfred's boot with what the knight was ashamed now to recognize as one of the strips that Ewan had torn from the boy's spare shirt. Then he remembered how the squires had enjoyed causing Merlin's unjustified punishment that morning, and again having said the words, the knight realized with a frown that he was still not speaking the truth.

But he did not want to be disloyal to his brother knights, so he looked again for a justification. "And Merlin is usually well able to give as much as he takes," Leon added, confident in what he was saying this time. "In fact, his willingness to defy Prince Arthur has landed him in trouble on more than one occasion, though from what I've been able to tell, the boy has usually had ample justification, and has often even managed to convince his master so.

"But today…. well, Merlin had already had a long and difficult day even before we left Camelot and now, with all this, he is just not his usual cheeky self."

Aelrod was silent for a time, and Leon thought he didn't look entirely convinced by the knight's argument.

"Well, I think Arthur should consider himself lucky," said the Lord at last. "I believe you when you say he is not a slave and not a criminal. His quick thinking and generous actions today go well beyond forced servitude and he has shown himself to be very serious about his responsibilities. Any master should value that in his servant."

"And I believe that 'cheekiness' as you call it, is a sign of wit," he added. "Certainly no dullard would ever even think of the words to defy his master, let alone voice them.

"In my opinion, it is the boy who seems to have provided US with security and support for our well-being this day, Sir Leon. Not the other way around."

And with that conclusion, Aelrod rose and took his leave, intending a few hours of rest before morning.

Leon stared into the fire. Aelrod had left Leon with even more to ponder, and Leon found he did not like the conclusions he was coming to. They were throwing into turmoil everything he'd been brought up to believe about servants and commoners and knights and the nobility and their places in society.

He'd just heard evidence from his own mouth that some of the most supposedly noble men in the land, and he dared to include himself in that group, had not lived up to their knightly vows at all. And now that he'd started to think about it, the floodgates opened and he could think of dozens and maybe even hundreds of instances, great and small where he or his noble peers had put their own comfort or amusement above the safety and well-being of those they were meant to protect.

Likewise, he began to understand that what Aelrod had last said was also true. Merlin had not just served. He had saved three lives that evening, and was now keeping himself awake all night to provide medical care for someone that had never offered him anything but torment. Not only that, but the boy had not made any attempt to be recognized or thanked for his courage or selflessness. It was as if Merlin just took his actions as if they were a regular part of his duties.

The knight frowned. Merlin had not made any complaint about being left wet, injured, weary and hungry either. Did the boy think these were also usual for a servant? Leon frowned more deeply and wondered if they WERE indeed usual for a servant.

He looked back over to Merlin. The servant had added a couple of marks to his time-keeping by then, and Leon saw him yawn widely and scrub at his eyes before standing and walking over towards the pile of firewood. The boy assessed the fire, and then picked up a couple of the larger branches, placing them carefully into the flames and adjusting them until they took light. Then, he moved back towards his seat on the log, and with a sigh he bent to pick up Alfred's other boot to begin working on it.

Leon glanced down at his own boots and saw that the mud and dirt were gone from these as well. He guessed that Merlin must have decided to polish boots in order to help himself stay awake. He also noticed that the boy was trying to do most of the job one-handed, and had grimaced in pain on a couple of occasions when he'd apparently forgotten his injured arm and put too much pressure on it.

Well, Leon had had enough of his troublesome thoughts for now, and to clear his mind he thought he may as well check on the horses, and then do a quick patrol in the forest around the perimeter of their camp. So, standing, he stretched, picked up his sword, and headed over to where the horses were picketed, walking slowly to give his eyes time to adjust to the darkness.

After a quiet and uneventful walk around the camp, he made his way back towards the welcoming fire. As he approached, he could see that Merlin was standing with his back toward Leon, with one foot up on the log. Leon could still see that the boy had pulled his trouser leg up above his knee and was hunched over his leg investigating the damage.

Merlin, with his focus on his injured limb, must not have heard Leon approaching because he jumped when Leon said, "So, Merlin. How is it?"

"What?" asked the boy in confusion, quickly bringing his foot to the ground, and allowing his trouser leg to fall back down to cover his knee.

"Your knee, Merlin. How is your knee?" repeated Leon.

Merlin looked up into Leon's eyes in puzzlement, and Leon was saddened that the boy was so confused to get a question about his welfare. After all, Leon reminded himself almost forcefully, it WAS a knight's duty to ensure the well-being of those who served them.

"Oh, um...it's…it's…," Merlin began, continuing to look at Leon warily. But then he dropped his gaze to the ground and said "I will be fine, Sir," before adding softly, "Anyway, it's not like there is very much I can do about it, here."

Leon did not like the sound of this, since it insinuated that there was something that indeed SHOULD be done about the injury, were Merlin back in Camelot. He wished he'd been able to see it for himself when Merlin had had his pant leg raised, but the boy seemed anxious to hide his pain, so Leon didn't persist.

Then the knight remembered the bandit hitting the servant with his shield, and tried again. "And your arm, Merlin? What about that? I noticed you favouring it earlier," the knight persevered.

Merlin's eyes snapped back up to the knight's face in surprise that Leon had seemingly cared enough to notice. But then the boy's tired eyes dropped back to the ground again, and he reached up to rub the tender elbow.

"I… it's about like my knee, I suppose…," admitted Merlin. "But I can move it around some, so I guess it must not be broken. I….I'm sure….I can continue with my duties...Is there something you need me to do?"

Leon frowned and shook his head. 'Maybe' the arm was not broken! And the boy had said nothing, only continued to work almost non-stop from the time they had despatched the bandits.

Leon felt his life-long views on nobility give way once and for all. There was nothing at all about his noble blood that made it honourable to let a boy suffer through a possibly broken arm so a knight could get his BOOTS polished!

He was getting angry: angry at himself for everything he'd allowed Merlin to be put through that day; angry at the Prince and at Ewan for their torment of the boy when he'd been shaken by the battle and was beyond weariness; angry because Merlin had thought Leon had been concerned only about the boy's ability to carry out his DUTIES. And angriest of all by far to know that one day earlier, that would indeed have been his main concern.

Now, though, was not a time for anger. Not while there was an injured and weary boy standing before him with his head bowed, waiting for Leon's orders.

But before Leon could think of anything to say, Merlin's eyes snapped back up wide-eyed to the knight's face, and then over to his timekeeping marks. Leon could see that there were now six on the bottom row.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Sir Leon. I promise I will help you as soon as I get back, but first I have to go and check on Alfred," said the boy, reaching over to snatch up Alfred's boots and proceeding to limp over to the squire's tent to attend to his duties there.

Leon watched him go, and then sat down on the log, shaking his head and trying to let his anger die down.

* * *

Before long the boy made his way back to the campfire, trying his best to hide a tired sigh before adding another mark to his timekeeping and then coming to stand before Leon. "I'm back, Sir Leon. I can do whatever it is you wanted, now," he said.

"No Merlin, I don't need anything. Please just sit down for a while," answered the knight.

Merlin's brows furrowed in confusion, and then he said, "Oh, well if you really don't need anything, I suppose I should take care of Ewan's boots. They are the last pair."

Leon laughed at that and said, "Merlin, just leave Ewan's boots. He will have to make do. Now SIT."

Merlin hesitated again at the idea of sitting while there was still an unfinished task, but finally he took a seat as he'd been ordered.

"So how is Alfred?" asked Leon, knowing that Merlin would be happy to talk about that.

He wasn't disappointed, and the boy soon smiled slightly and said, "I think he is just fine, Sir Leon. I will check him once more to be certain, but when I woke him just now he told me 'get out of my tent and quit waking me, you idiot', so he certainly seems to be back to usual."

Leon smiled at that, then noticed that Merlin's own smile had fallen and the boy looked a bit apologetic.

"I know everybody thinks I'm being unreasonable by waking him like that," he explained. "But Gaius would have my head if he thought I'd shirked my responsibility as his apprentice. He's told me that head injuries sometimes take a bit of time to show up, and I just wanted to be certain, you know?"

"Well, Alfred should be thanking you," said Leon in answer. Then the knight kicked himself for not thinking of it earlier, and said "Stay there. I'll be back in a moment, Merlin," before rising and striding over toward the tents.

He came back in a few minutes, bringing his pack with him. Opening it, he handed Merlin an apple, saying "Here, you must be hungry. Sorry I did not think to offer it to you any earlier, but I'd forgotten I had these along for my mare. I know that you didn't get anything to eat tonight."

Merlin took the apple eagerly, like it was the finest gourmet offering. "Thank you, Sir Leon. I was so hungry, and wasn't sure how I'd ever manage to walk all the way back to Camelot tomorrow. This will help for sure!" said the boy, happily.

Leon shook his head at the thought that the boy could be so thankful for the apple meant for a horse, but then he finally caught on to what Merlin had just said.

"What do you mean 'walk to Camelot'," argued the knight. "You need to stay off your leg, Merlin. You cannot walk all that way. Ewan lost his horse through his own negligence, and it is Ewan that should walk."

"Well, I don't think I will have very much choice," explained Merlin, much more matter-of-factly than Leon felt. "We are short one horse, and there is one servant. There is no way that Arthur will let his father see a servant ride in while a noble walks, regardless of the reason for the lost horse. Anyway, Ewan will find a way to blame me for it."

"Well, maybe you could just walk for the last part, for appearances," countered Leon, but he already knew that would not work either.

Merlin knew it too, and he reasoned, "No, maybe if it was just with you and Arthur that would work. But Ewan would surely tell his father, who is Uther's friend. And if word got back to the King THAT way, it would go very badly for me. It's better if I just do my best and walk from the start."

Leon tried to find another solution, "I will volunteer to walk, then," he offered. "Surely not even Uther could find fault in that."

Merlin shook his head at that too though, "Thank you, Sir Leon, and you know the King better than I do, but I wonder if he would ever understand why you would give up your horse for even an injured servant. After all, I can walk, it's just painful. And for my part, I would feel very uncomfortable riding while you walked. Anyway, Lord Aelrod will surely want your 'mature' company on the ride back."

Leon had to smile at Merlin's attempt at lightening the issue, but could find no further argument, so he changed the subject.

"Merlin, you should try and get at least a few minutes of sleep," said Leon. "I promise I will wake you just before Arthur's watch, so you can go and rouse him and then check on Alfred again."

"You, will? Thank you Sir Leon," responded Merlin with a weary smile, at the knight's affirmation.

The two were quiet for a few minutes, looking into the fire, and Merlin made no immediate move to try and sleep. Soon though, Leon noticed Merlin fidgeting like he had something to say, but was afraid to say it.

"What is it, Merlin?" the knight prompted.

Merlin continue to hesitate, but finally he spoke softly, raising his eyes first to meet the knight's with a look of confusion and hurt, then over to where the nobles were deeply asleep in their shelters, and finally dropping his gaze towards the ground.

"Sir Leon, …..it's just that I don't really understand…."

"I'm not trying to complain or anything, because….well….," he hurried to add, before trailing off and then continuing again. "Where I'm from, …..Ealdor, it's in Cenred's kingdom…." Merlin looked back up at Leon, and the knight nodded to indicate that he knew where the village was.

Merlin looked back down, and continued, "The King doesn't really care what happens there, as long as he gets his taxes. But it's a poor village, and it's… hard… sometimes….

"We often can't grow enough to feed everybody comfortably, so we have to work together and just share what we have.

"But nobody ever just 'takes' from another person, even if they don't have enough for themselves. They share what they have, even with me, even though I'm just a ba…. um… I mean,…..um…., even though I don't have a father…. ."

Merlin hesitated a moment, as if ashamed at the admission, but then went on anyway, "And even if they all end up with a bit less than they'd like, we'd all get through the hard times together. That's how we survive. Each person offering up what he can for the others," he finished, looking up at the knight with intense blue eyes, as if begging him to understand.

Then Merlin broke the gaze and looked back at the ground before continuing, "But here...," at this he looked over towards Ewan's tent again and continued with some anger in his voice, though it was still barely above a whisper. "I don't understand why they think that their blood gives them a right to take my things from me without even asking.

"I thought the nobility had a duty to care for the people who served them. But I honestly haven't seen very much of that. It's like we have no value at all.

"You know, I would happily have shared my provisions if I'd been asked. And I would have given up my blanket if it was needed, but they've got blankets and dry shirts and cloaks,… and I…"

Merlin trailed off as he looked up at the knight again, only to see that Leon was looking back at him in anger. The boy rose quickly from his seat at this, and backed painfully away trying to put some distance between them.

Then he began to apologize. "I'm sorry, Sir Leon. I didn't mean to speak out of turn," he said with a worried look. "I'm just really tired, and I've let my tongue get the best of me… As usual," he added sadly, hugging himself and shivering with cold, since he'd moved further from the fire, and was without his still-drying shirt.

"Merlin, just come over here and sit back down, will you?" said Leon kindly, when he realized that he'd frightened the boy. "You are making me cold just looking at you. And you don't have to apologize. I'm sorry if you thought I was angry at you, but I'm not. Actually, I agree with you and I'm angry at my squire for taking advantage of a servant, if you must know. Now, like I said before, you should try to get a little bit of sleep while you still can."

With a hesitant look at the knight, Merlin came and sat back down, though leaving at least an arm's-length between them. The boy spent a few minutes trying to get into a position which would let him rest, but after a few stifled gasps of pain, from when he'd dozed and apparently disturbed his injuries, he sighed and straightened back up, looking at the knight fearfully, almost as though he thought he'd done something wrong.

Merlin finally said, "I'm sorry, Sir Leon. But… I mean I know I'm just a servant, and I've slept on the ground plenty of times, but…well…. I'm just too cold and sore and I don't want to lie in the mud… and well, ….I can't seem to get comfortable enough to sleep sitting on this stupid log…" he finished, looking accusingly at their fireside seat. Then he hung his head in misery, having probably told Leon more than he'd intended.

"I should just keep working so I don't think about it….," Merlin continued to himself with weary frustration. "I haven't done Ewan's boots yet…"

Leon didn't say anything, but just shuffled along the log so Merlin was right next to him. Then the knight unclasped his cloak enough so that he could extend it to wrap around both of them, and drew the shivering boy even closer.

Leon frowned as he felt just how cold the servant was. "Merlin," he said, "You are like ice! But this should help I think. Now, lean on me and just try to relax."

When Merlin seemed about to object, Leon reached his other arm around and gently but firmly held the boy's head so it was resting on his broad shoulder. "Now, don't argue, just try to sleep."

At first, Merlin still struggled faintly in embarrassment against the hold. But gradually the warmth and security that Leon provided let him relax, and though Leon could still feel him trembling with the cold from time to time, the boy finally went limp as he dropped off into sleep.

Leon sat without moving lest he disturb the servant, but all too soon, he judged that it was time to wake Arthur, and he'd promised to wake Merlin so the boy could go and check on Alfred one last time. But before he could move to rouse the boy, the Prince came out of his tent, and began to walk towards them.

On reaching the knight and seeing his servant asleep, Arthur grinned and swiped at the boy's legs, toppling Merlin abruptly from his warm nest and into a heap on the ground.

"Oy, Merlin, what do you think you are doing, using my father's Senior Knight as a pillow?" he mocked, though more in amusement than anger, Leon thought.

Still, Leon gave the Prince a disapproving glare and said, "Arthur, was that really necessary? The boy has been awake all night caring for Alfred. I only convinced him to try and get some sleep in the last half-hour, and I didn't have the heart to move him when he ended up leaning on me."

Arthur graciously did not mention the fact that since Leon's cloak had been wrapped around the shivering boy, he'd obviously done more than simply let the boy 'lean'.

"Well no, I admit it was a probably a little bit much," he admitted in the face of Leon's displeasure, "But I do need him up. Dawn is about to break and there are some things he needs to do so we will be able to leave without delay once everyone is up.

"Merlin," he called to the boy, who was now sitting on the muddy ground with a hand in his hair and a look of confusion on his face.

The servant made no answer, only furrowed his brow as if he were trying to remember where he was, and then rubbed unconsciously at his injured arm.

"Merlin", tried the Prince again, and at last the boy looked up at his master.

"Arthur!" he cried on seeing who had arrived. "I mean, Sire, I ...," he continued with the stupid stammering of the newly awakened.

"Yes, yes. I know you were asleep instead of coming to wake me. Leon tells me you've been up all night to watch over Alfred so I suppose I can let it go this once. But I need you up now so we will be able to make an early start.

"You can start by going to the river to fill the water-skins. Dawn is just beginning to break, so it should be light enough to climb down the bank by the time you get there."

Leon saw Merlin sigh in resignation, then yawn as he climbed slowly and painfully to his feet to begin a new day's duties.

Well, there was nothing Leon could really do for him, so he headed to the empty tent to get a little bit more rest before Arthur would be rousing the camp at the end of his watch.

* * *

When Arthur came to wake Leon, it was to the early morning sunlight. Leon judged it to be around the sixth bell mark. He crept out of his tent to see that Ewan, Lord Aelrod and Roran were also newly awakened, as they were in front of their tents in various acts of stretching and collecting their packs and swords from their shelters.

Leon could see that Arthur had moved on to wake Alfred, and Merlin was putting out the fire.

The boy seemed no wetter than earlier, so Leon was happy that he'd apparently found a way to fill the water-skins without needing to wade too far into the river.

"Merlin, hurry up with that fire, and then strike the tents, will you," shouted Arthur over to his servant. "Now that everyone is up, I want to be underway. We have no more food, and I don't want to stop to hunt for any, so I want to make sure we are back to Camelot in plenty of time for lunch."

"Yes, Arthur, right away," answered Merlin wearily. Leon saw him straighten and rub at his eyes, swaying a little bit where he stood. He didn't hesitate for long though, before he limped his way over towards Arthur's tent, which Leon had so recently been using, and began to dismantle it.

"I'll bring the horses round," said Leon, hoping that would save the boy a bit of work, and then he shouted, "Ewan, you can take care of your own tent," to the squire who was in the midst of showing off to Roran by flourishing his sword.

Ewan frowned, but didn't dare to gainsay the senior knight, so he sheathed his sword and went to do as he'd been told.

Alfred, who had been standing beside Ewan, took a look over to where Merlin was trying his best to wrap Arthur's tent mostly one-handed. Leon saw the squire frown in what looked almost like concern, before moving unasked to take care of his own tent, while Roran and Aelrod also struck their own.

With everyone pitching in, in a very short time everything was packed up, and the travelling group was finally on their way to Camelot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked the cuddle with Leon. That was basically a self-insert, but you may share if you like.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next installment. I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> Warning for physical abuse, for Arthur continuing to be a prat (though not an abuser!) and also for Merlin starting to be more OOC. I figure it's warranted, as our boy is getting ever closer to his breaking point, though I still have a bit more to put him through yet.
> 
> Don't worry, there will eventually be the comfort part of the story, but if you feel the need, you have my permission to go back to the cuddle in the last chapter.

Shortly after leaving their campsite, Alfred's horse had begun to limp, probably due to a stone bruise she must have taken during her panic the previous day. As a result, not just Merlin but also Leon was afoot, Leon having given up his beloved mare to Alfred.

And although he could have, and probably should have ordered Ewan to walk, Leon was loathe to trust the squire so close to Merlin, so he simply made some comment about not wanting to be seen riding into Camelot on an old nag, and jumped from his horse.

Unfortunately, adding the two men afoot to the drizzle that had started again - along with the muddy road - made progress very slow. They had only covered about half the distance to Camelot, and it was already almost mid-morning. Leon could see by Arthur's body language that the Prince was getting impatient.

"Come ON, Merlin," Arthur shouted at the boy, needing some way to vent his frustration and not daring to take it out on any of the nobles in the travelling party.

"Pick up your feet and get moving, or I'll tie you to my horse and pull you the rest of the way," he snarled.

Merlin's head came up and Leon saw his eyes widen in fear. He turned to the senior knight beside him, and asked in a weary whisper, "Would he really do that, Sir Leon? It's just that I'm already moving as fast as I can. Could they not just go on without me?"

"Don't worry, Merlin," answered Leon, trying to reassure the boy. "Arthur is just frustrated with the pace. I don't think resorting to such measures would really help anything, now would it? And I won't see you left behind either, since there may still be bandits in this area."

Merlin still looked fearful and unconvinced, and Leon noticed that his breathing had quickened as he tried to control his panic and do as Arthur asked.

Leon scowled and shook his head in displeasure. Although he was quite certain Arthur would not be so cruel as to carry out that particular threat, he wished the Prince had just held his tongue. Could he not understand that his servant was beyond exhaustion? Leon realized that the boy would normally have provided some cheeky retort, but given his station and his treatment the previous day, today Merlin would be unable to see the warning as an empty one. They did not need the already injured boy to break a leg by trying to move any more quickly than he was already doing.

But threats, mud and rain aside, finally the wet and weary group made its way through the main gates of Camelot just as the noon bells were ringing, and clattered into the courtyard before the palace entrance a short time later.

Arthur was the first to dismount, and said to the travelling party, "Ok men, I'm sure you are all as exhausted and hungry as I am after our adventures of yesterday, so go and get something to eat, and then off to your beds to get some rest. I will cancel our training this afternoon, so make the most of it."

The men heaved sighs of gratitude and Arthur continued, "So just give your horses to Merlin and leave your bags here. He will take care of everything."

Merlin looked at Arthur in open-mouthed disbelief. "Everything? For everyone? But Arthur, that's going to take hours," said the boy apprehensively.

"Can't they at least take their bags up into the castle? That would save me hauling all this stuff up the stairs in the rain," he added looking at the large number of packs of various sizes that the knights were currently removing from their horses and depositing on the muddy ground.

"No Merlin," answered Arthur slowly, as if he were speaking to a rather stupid child. "The men are tired, and it would not do to have all these wet supplies sitting in the entry hall of the palace for that long. They are dirty, and it is not a store room, you know.

"On that note, make sure you clean up the bags PROPERLY after they've been brought in, and not to your usual standards. They will need to have the dirt scrubbed off and then be hung so they dry out."

"But,…" began Merlin, but Arthur cut him off.

"Oh, and Merlin, once that's done, please come and prepare me a bath and see to laundering all my wet clothes, then you can tend to your other duties in my chambers while I sleep. I'm going to need a long, hot soak after all we've been through. Since I expect you will dillydally along with your usual inefficiency, I suppose that you will be too late to bring my lunch, so I will have to get somebody else to look after that for you," the Prince added, as though he was doing Merlin a favour.

Merlin looked at the Prince unhappily before dropping his eyes to the ground. "Yes, Sire," he said, too weary to argue.

Leon watched as the boy turned sadly away, taking Arthur's reins and waiting while the other members of the travelling party finished taking down their packs before finally bringing their horses over to him.

The knight frowned, knowing that Merlin was every bit as hungry and exhausted as the rest of them, and beyond! So even though the boy was just a servant, Leon decided that he should remind Arthur of this. "But Sire, don't you think that Merlin is also exhausted?" he began.

"I can't help that, Leon. He is a servant and this IS his job," came the response from the Prince. But then, seeing Leon's frown of disapproval, Arthur said, "Oh,….. very well."

"Merlin," he said turning back to the waiting boy.

"Yes Sire?" said Merlin looking up with a slight frown of puzzled worry.

Leon guessed that the boy was waiting to see what more work Arthur would be adding to his burden.

But for once Arthur surprised the servant by saying, "Since Sir Leon seems to think you need to be mollycoddled, after you take care of the horses and the bags, you are free to get some food and rest of your own. I will find someone else to draw my bath and I guess most of the rest can wait. But make sure you are back in time to bring my dinner. You can take care of the laundry then too."

"Thank you, Sire," said Merlin looking grateful that at least some of his load had been eased. The boy then turned and began to lead the horses over to the stables.

Leon watched the servant for a few seconds before his attention was brought back to the Prince when Arthur said, "Sir Leon, I know you are also hungry and tired, but would you mind showing Lord Aelrod and Roran to their chambers on your way to your own?

"Normally, I would have had Merlin do it, but as he's got the horses to attend to, I would appreciate your help while I go and tell my father that we are back safe and sound.

"Oh, and then perhaps you could join me in my chambers for dinner," he added. "We will need to decide how best to reorganize our training and demonstration sessions tomorrow, since we've lost a day from our planned schedule."

"Of course, Sire. It would be my pleasure," answered the knight. Then turning to Lord Aelrod, he said, "Sir, if you will just follow me, your chambers are all ready for you in the royal wing of the castle. Even though we've had a rough start getting here, I'm sure you will enjoy your stay."

Leon also thought he may be able to ease Merlin's load just a little bit, so he added, "And I will arrange for your bags to be brought in right away, rather than waiting with our other travel supplies."

After bringing Lord Aelrod to his rooms, Leon waited to ensure that the noble's bags were delivered and unpacked. He also called for baths to be prepared, as the men were damp and cold from the rain.

Last, Leon called for a meal to be brought and then he took his leave so that the visitors could enjoy their baths and lunch in peace.

Before heading to his own rooms, he stopped in at the council chambers to advise the King that the visitors had asked to take some rest during the afternoon, but would be happy to join the King for dinner afterward. Apparently, Arthur had already delivered his own message to the King, as the Prince was nowhere in sight.

Finally, and with a relieved sigh, Leon reached his own chambers and after calling for a servant to bring him a hearty meal, he quickly changed out of his own still damp clothes. Once he started into the meal, he realized that he was very hungry, and he soon finished the whole plate.

Then, since the training session for the afternoon had been cancelled, he thought he would also take the opportunity to enjoy the luxury of a bath. After his soak, he felt very refreshed, and found he was not really tired enough to need rest, although he thought maybe the long walk back to Camelot would catch up to him eventually.

But since it was still only midafternoon, he decided he would rather go over to the stables to check on his horse for himself. He enjoyed getting some rare time off to fuss over her, and with a smile he slipped a couple of apples he'd had on hand in his chambers into his pouch to treat her.

As he passed down the castle steps towards the courtyard, Leon scowled in anger. The muddy bags were still not cleared from where they'd been left by the returning travellers. Maybe his original views on servants had been right all along, because it seemed that as soon as Leon had stood up for the boy, Merlin had repaid him by neglecting his duties, and was probably off in his bed already, bags forgotten.

But the knight's anger soon changed to confusion and then concern, for as he neared the stables, he could hear the distinctive sound of a blow, followed by Merlin's pained voice crying out, "Ow! But Sir, I thought I'd done all you'd asked."

Leon stopped outside the stable doors to listen. Merlin was still in the stables? He should have been finished here hours ago. Surely the boy had just been meant to bring the horses and leave them to the care of stable-hands.

Another thwack sounded, followed by another pained "Ow!"

"I told you to comb out all of their manes," shouted the deep voice belonging to the Stable Master. "And I don't see that done yet. And the brushes are not put away either. And what about the saddles, have you finished those yet? And yet you dared to tell me that you were finished."

Yet another thwack and another pained grunt.

"I know, ...I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking. " Merlin cried out again.

"But I rubbed them all down just like you told me to, and fed and watered them all and picked their hooves, and I did do all of the saddles, except… I didn't get a chance to do Alfred's yet, but I still have to go and put all the bags away,…" Leon heard Merlin hurry on in pained desperation.

Thwack!

From the voices within it certainly sounded like the Stable Master had expected the boy to do everything on his own. With six horses, it was no wonder he had not been back for the bags yet.

"Ow….Please, S-stop Sir!" Merlin sounded close to tears.

Merlin was clearly being beaten. Leon had heard at least five strikes and wondered how many more had preceded those.

"I don't care what else you have to do, Merlin. These horses have been out in the rain for a long while, and were not provisioned for an overnight trip. They need proper care. These are royal mounts and I won't have them treated like common nags," the Stable Master shouted.

Thwack!

Leon finally stepped through the stable door, looking at the bedraggled Merlin, and recalling that the horses were not the only ones that had been out overnight and in the rain without proper provisions, but since it was not proper to interfere directly with the stable master's disciplining of a servant, he only said 'Hello. Is Merlin giving you trouble?"

Leon saw that the Master was restraining Merlin by grasping the shoulder of his tattered jacket with his left hand. Then using the riding crop he held in his right hand, the man brought it forcefully down across the boys back.

"This boy has been nothing but trouble to me since he's come to Camelot. I can't imagine why the Prince would trust him with his horse. He's obviously never been taught anything about how to care for war mounts," answered the Stable Master, giving Merlin one final and especially violent stroke, before pushing him roughly to the ground. "And no matter how much I try to beat it into him, he just does not seem capable of learning what is expected of him."

Merlin fell to his hands and knees with another pained gasp, then climbed slowly back to his feet, swiping at his eyes. Leon could see the tear tracks it left on his grimy cheeks.

Leon frowned. Indeed, why indeed would Arthur trust his horse to Merlin? The Prince was not a man to show emotional attachment to people, but he did love his horse and this was plain to everyone. Now that he thought about it, Leon also recalled that the usually feisty mount tended to be rather docile with Merlin, and Leon was surprised that the Stable Master had not noticed the connection between the boy and the horse. Obviously Arthur had seen it though, hence Merlin's added responsibilities in the stables. Leon couldn't recall Arthur giving those duties to any of his other servants over the past years.

On the other hand, the Stable Master was right, with Merlin's background when would he ever have had a chance to learn all that went into caring for Camelot's famed warhorses. Leon supposed that the farming village Merlin had come from -'Ealdor', Leon remembered the boy saying, may have had at most a dray horse or two for pulling a plough, and maybe a donkey or something like that. Leon's frown deepened further, as he wondered why the Stable Master would not simply have arranged for the boy to get a bit of training, rather than to brutally punish him for things he'd never even been taught. Leon thought that the punishments wouldn't much help either Merlin or the Stable Master in the long run.

He wondered if Arthur was aware of the situation, but he strongly doubted it. The knight pondered over whether he should say something to the Prince about getting the boy some training, but then he had a better idea.

"Well, Master, I'll help Merlin finish up here, if it's alright with you. Maybe he will learn a thing or two. Training for the knights has been cancelled today, and I've come over here hoping for the chance to spoil my own mare for a little while, so it won't be any trouble. And Merlin is right about the bags, they are still sitting out in the rain, so Arthur will need him to take care of them soon."

The Stable Master stood open-mouthed for a moment at the idea that a knight of Leon's standing would help a servant, then glared once more at Merlin.

"Boy, I hope you appreciate this offer from one of your betters. You had better do exactly what he tells you. You know what you've got left to do."

"Yes Sir," Merlin said softly, as he stared dejectedly at the ground, rubbing at the elbow that had been injured by the bandit's shield. From Merlin's intake of breath when he must have touched a painful spot, Leon guessed that the either the beating or the impact with the ground when he was pushed had not done his arm any good.

Then the Stable Master turned to Leon with a smile, "Thank you, Sir Leon. I feel better now that I know that the job will be done properly for a change. And here is my crop – feel free to use it if he steps out of line. Personally, I think you will have your hands full if you try to teach him anything. Now, if you don't mind, I will take my leave of you, as I've not had my lunch yet."

Leon turned to Merlin and said gently, "Come on Merlin, let's get this finished up, because I know you are worried about getting on with your other chores."

"Thank you Sir Leon," Merlin answered, swiping at his eyes again before finally looking up at the knight. The boy sighed with weariness and then started a stumbling explanation, confirming what Leon had already guessed.

"It's just that…. well… in Ealdor, I mainly helped my mother to tend our crops, and with …. you know, preparing the herbs for healing and things like that…..and … we never had…. although, we did have a cow for a while, … but it's not really the same, is it?….and I never was the one charged to care for the village horse…..well, except Will let me feed him a time or two… and anyway, there were no saddles or stirrups or things like that for riding, he just pulled a plough… so not … and….. I mean…. I've tried my best to watch how the stable hands do things, but they just laugh at me and give me the wrong information when I ask questions….and the Stable Master hits me with that crop if I do the least thing wrong, but nobody will show me how to do things properly," he rushed to finish, despondently.

Leon smiled kindly back at the boy, "I guessed as much Merlin. Don't worry, let's at least show you how to polish a saddle and comb through the manes properly, okay. I think I heard that you've not done that yet? You'll be putting those stable hands to shame in no time, I've no doubt. And next time I've got some time in the stables, I'll show you a few more things, and you can also come to me with your questions in future, if you need to," said Leon, not exactly sure why he was offering to be so approachable to the servant.

"Oh, and Merlin, I had brought this to treat my horse, but I think you may put it to better use," Leon added, pulling out the apple he'd stored in his pouch and passing it over to Merlin.

Merlin's eyes widened, and he said much more brightly than before, "Thank you, Sir Leon! I'm so glad you have this thing about carrying around apples. I'm STARVING!"

Leon collected the things they'd need while he left Merlin to munch happily, and in a few minutes they started to work. Leon was surprised to find that he enjoyed teaching the servant. Merlin was witty and quite cheerful, even though Leon knew he had to be exhausted and in pain, and Leon was certain that the apple had not gone far to easing the boys hunger, either.

Besides the companionability, Leon also found Merlin to be a very quick study, and Leon found himself understanding why Arthur kept the boy around, even though from afar he had seemed so unsuited for many of his duties.

Almost an hour later, the two had almost finished up with the horses, and Leon suddenly remembered that Merlin still had all of the bags to attend to before the boy would at last be permitted to rest.

"Merlin, why don't I finish up here, while you head over and take care of the bags," he said.

"Are you sure, Sir Leon?" asked the boy doubtfully. "I don't know if the Stable Master will be very happy if I leave before everything is done, and I really don't want to get…um…..punished…..again today."

"It's okay, Merlin. If he asks, I will tell him that I ordered you to go and do it," answered the knight kindly, taking the brush and saddle polish out of Merlin's hands. "Now, go."

"Thank you," said the boy, rising at last and heading to the doors.

* * *

With Merlin gone, any need for Leon to rush had also been removed, so he took his time spoiling his mare before he too rose and left the stables and to head back towards the castle.

As he headed back across the courtyard in the rain, he could see that Merlin had brought about half of the bags up into the castle already. The boy was now standing at the bottom of the steps with another bag in his hand, and was talking to the Castle Steward, who looked very displeased about something.

As he neared, Leon could hear the Steward saying sternly to Merlin, "Boy, why have you not yet reported to me. I was told you had returned several hours ago and you have yet to do your share of the common duties to ready tomorrow's reception for the Lord of Cambria."

"But, Sir", came the distressed answer, "I haven't had a chance to see you. I've been busy with the horses since we got back, and I'm still not finished getting the bags away. And after that, Arthur gave me leave to sleep, because…"

Leon was stopped in his tracks as he saw the Steward slap the boy hard across his cheek. Merlin flinched and then reached up in shock to where a newly forming bruise was rapidly joining the dark one that had been left by Uther the previous day.

"You will refer to him as 'PRINCE Arthur', and you will do no such thing until and unless you have finished your duties alongside your fellow servants. THEY have been working diligently as per my orders while you have been off gallivanting about the forest," shouted the Steward.

"But….Sir…. I was out on Prince Arthur's orders and I wasn't … gallivanting, I swear to you," came Merlin's desperate reply.

This just garnered him another hard slap as the Steward said coldly, "Do not think to contradict me, young man. You are under my jurisdiction, and as such you will report to the Great Hall immediately after you have finished with these bags in order to help scrub the floors there."

Leon saw Merlin's shoulders slump at this news, and knew that due to the boy's injured arm and knee this task would likely be very painful for him. The knight wondered if he should intervene, but along with his still being a bit too far away to do so without making a scene, he also reluctantly concluded that his interference may just end up making things worse. The Steward was well-known for his intolerance of any criticism about how he ran his staff, and this included all of the household servants, even Merlin, though he was the Prince's manservant.

"And Merlin," said the Steward warningly to the boy, "I see that you have three more bags to put away. I will expect that to take you no more than three-quarters of an hour, even given your usual incompetence. So if I do not see you in the Great Hall within the hour, you can expect to be punished for your inefficiency." And with that promise, the Steward turned and went back up the stairs.

Merlin went a shade paler as he watched the departing Steward, his mouth open in shock and dismay. Unnoticed by the servant, Leon just shook his head. The bags were wet and muddy and heavy, and Merlin had to get them upstairs and then all the way to the supply room at the far end of the castle, where he would then need to unpack, and brush clean the bags before stowing away all of the equipment.

Leon also thought it likely that Merlin had planned to first get all of the bags moved before starting any of the unpacking, which meant he was not even near to half-way through the full task, and he'd already been working for more than a half-hour on it. There was no way for the boy to finish in time to avoid the Steward's punishment it seemed.

Unless…. "Boy", shouted Leon to a burly stable hand who was just passing nearby. "The Prince's manservant has been injured while serving his master, and needs some help with putting our travel bags away."

Then pointing to where Merlin had sadly started to one-handedly drag the bag he had been holding up the stairs, the knight continued, "As he has been helping with your job in the stables, you can return the favour by helping him to bring those bags to the supply room, and then see them cleaned and the supplies put away."

"Make sure it's done properly, as I will be checking in one hour. I'm sure a lad of your strength can easily see it done in that time, and there will be a silver penny in it for you if I am satisfied."

At this last, the boy smiled and said, "Yes, of course, Sir Leon," before rushing off to where he easily picked up both remaining bags and ran up the stairs after Merlin.

Leon smiled to himself as he watched the stable hand go. At least that should ensure Merlin made it to the Great Hall within the hour. Then he too climbed the stairs into the castle. Since he had some time before he needed to change and join Arthur for dinner, he intended to stop at the armoury to look at some weapons that had just been received from Tir Mor that morning. The Island's weapon makers were reputed to be among the finest in the five kingdoms, and Leon had heard about their crossbows. He was excited that he would have some leisure time to handle the weapons and perhaps choose one for himself while they were still brand new.

* * *

Less than two hours later, having checked on the travel bags and having had his fill of crossbows, Leon was humming happily as he headed towards Arthur's chambers to join the Prince for dinner.

As he passed by the Great Hall, he wondered whether Merlin had finished scrubbing the floor yet, and decided to stop in to see how the boy was getting on. He reasoned to himself that since Arthur would be expecting his servant to fetch their meals, it would be practical to remind the Steward that the boy would be needed. And if this released him early from his floor scrubbing, well that was just a fortunate happenstance.

Leon's happy humming came to an abrupt halt as he walked through the doors though. The knight looked at the scene before him in horror. Merlin stood hunched over one of the high backed chairs set at the dining table, grasping its top frame with white-knuckled fists.

Meanwhile, the Steward was landing blow after frenzied blow across the boys back with what Leon saw to be the buckle end of his substantial leather belt.

Merlin had his eyes scrunched shut and leaking tears against the pain, and although Leon could see he was trying not to cry out, some of the blows were so severe that the boy could not help himself.

Leon did not hesitate this time. The Steward was definitely NOT carrying out the routine discipline of an errant servant. He was a man of authority and power who had lost control and was taking it out in the violent assault of a young boy who was already exhausted and injured.

"Master Steward, what is the meaning of this?" Leon shouted. "Surely this is not the accepted method of punishment for whatever Merlin has done wrong. Please restrain yourself."

At that the Steward seemed to realize that he had gone too far, and stopped striking the shuddering boy.

"Yes, forgive me Sir Leon, but I was just so angry at this lazy imbecile," the man replied without any guilt in his tone.

Then the Steward felt he needed to explain himself, so he added, "He seems to believe that his position as the Prince's manservant means that he does not need to do his part of the usual shared duties of the staff. For example, when we have an esteemed visitor such as the Lord of Cambria, I naturally need to assign extra duties to each of my servants in order for all to be ready to receive them."

"But Merlin here," he spat, "has missed all of his assignments of the last two days, and so I have required him to wash half of this floor. It's a simple enough task."

"And while his fellow servant George," and the Steward gestured over to a pompous looking young man standing straight-backed on the other side of the room, "had completed his half thirty minutes ago, Merlin is only halfway done and is apparently unwilling to even kneel on the floor to carry out his work properly."

"I just cannot allow that type of behaviour, so the boy needed to be punished," the man concluded.

But Leon decided to argue back. "Master, I understand. But the boy HAS been serving Arthur on his travel to the border these past two days," he said. "I myself have been with them and can assure you that he fulfilled all of his duties thoroughly, so he has not been available for castle duty. In fact I have come in to ask you to release him to attend the Prince for dinner even now, as Arthur is waiting for him."

"Surely he can be excused in this instance?" the knight asked, then added with a touch of anger, "Could not George have simply assisted him once he had finished his part? Perhaps the job would be finished by now if he had."

But the Steward did not relent and also became angry at the apparent criticism. "No, I'm afraid Merlin cannot, and George WILL not," he countered. "Regardless of his duties to Prince Arthur, Merlin is still classified as a household servant. As such, he falls under MY jurisdiction and must do his part of the common tasks of the staff. Anything less would be unfair to the rest of my people, like George, who seem to have no such problem in pulling their weight."

Then the two men looked back at Merlin who was still white-faced and panting, though at least his grip on the chair back had eased somewhat.

"Now Merlin," spat the Steward again and without any mercy, "Since you seem incapable of this simplest task, and since I do not have any more time for you to muddle your sorry way through it, you are excused to attend to your master."

Leon was relieved that the boy would not have to finish his scrubbing, but the relief was short-lived when the Steward continued, "However, after your duties to him, since you STILL have not completed your share in the common duties, you are to report DIRECTLY to the Night Steward, who I am sure will be able to find something even you are able to manage. Is that clear?"

But the servant made no immediate answer, seemingly still trying to deal with his pain.

"Merlin! IS THAT CLEAR?" shouted the Steward again.

"Ye... Yes Sir," came the boys faltering response at last.

With a brisk nod at the acknowledgement, the Steward continued, "Now, it is time for the servants' meal, so George and I must take our leave. But unfortunately Merlin, your inefficiency at your duties has also made you late in your attending to your master, or so Sir Leon has just told me. So you must go immediately and see to his needs, and none of your usual shirking."

Then, with a last scowl at the boy, the Steward gestured to George and the two men left the hall.

Leon turned around and looked at Merlin in concern, along with some anger at having been made the justification for making the servant miss yet another meal. The boy had scrubbed at his eyes to hide the tears, but they were still red-rimmed, and he was struggling painfully to pull his jacket on.

Leon wondered if he should offer to help but thought the boy may prefer the dignity of doing it on his own, so held back.

The knight couldn't be sure, since the Merlin still had not had a chance to change from the red shirt he had worn on their journey, but judging by the way the shirt was sticking to Merlin's back in places, it looked like this latest beating had drawn a not insignificant amount of blood.

"Are you all right, Merlin?" asked Leon in concern." That was no simple caning he just gave you!"

Merlin winced and whispered, "Yes Sir, I will be fine."

Then Leon's alarm bells started to go off when Merlin looked at the ground and added plaintively, "I always am… I just wish he wouldn't get so angry at me all the time… I try my best, but it's like with the horses; some of the things he asks me to do, I just never learned about in Ealdor...And nobody will show me how to do things right so I keep doing it all wrong… Then he gets so mad..."

Merlin trailed off without explaining the consequences of his mistakes, though from what Leon had seen today, he had a good idea. The knight was at a loss as to what he could do about it though. There did not seem to be anyone who he could talk to in order to make things easier for the boy. He would have to think about it for a while, and only hoped Merlin would not need to suffer any more beatings in the meantime.

By now Merlin had his jacket on, and the two left the Great Hall and headed towards Prince Arthur's chambers.

As they entered, the Prince said to Leon, "Ah, I see you've picked up my wayward servant on your way here. I was expecting him an hour ago! Well, that let me get some extra sleep, so I suppose I should be thankful."

Leon did not have a chance to say anything because Arthur then started teasing Merlin: "Merlin, did you forget that you had to attend Leon and me tonight for dinner in my chambers? Or maybe you stopped for a little nap outside my door? Or, I know, you got lost! Did Sir Leon have to hold your hand so you could find the way?"

But Merlin just looked up with a tired glare, rather than respond with a smile or a witty retort like he normally did.

Arthur tried again to get a rise out of him. "So are you not going to call me a prat, or an ass or some such insult for demanding the service that I pay you for?"

But Merlin simply said, "Not tonight, Sire" and looked back down, waiting for his instructions.

Arthur frowned at the boy for a moment, then turned to Leon saying, "Honestly, I don't know why my father saddled me with this idiot."

But the tone was not angry. It sounded more wistful and disappointed. Leon suddenly understood that Arthur was not really angry with the servant. He'd simply been hoping for the boy's normal cheeky response. Apparently Arthur enjoyed the banter more than he admitted.

Then the Prince frowned and turned back to the servant to give him his tasks for the evening, "Fine then, Merlin. Once you've brought up the meals for Leon and me, I'd like you to prepare my bath. I fell asleep right after my lunch, so I never did take that long soak I'd been hoping for. And there is still my laundry to take care of."

"Yes, Sire. Right away," came another quiet and weary answer.

Then Leon also made a request, hoping that the servant would understand his intentions. "Merlin, could you tell the cook that I am especially hungry tonight, so I would like some extra meat and an extra bread roll."

Merlin looked up at Leon in surprise at this, and with some hope in his voice answered, "Yes, of course, Sir Leon," before limping away to get the meals.

Leon and Arthur had almost finished reorganizing the events for the next day when Merlin came back with the meals. Leon noticed that the boy was struggling to manage both trays due to his injured arm, and the knight was surprised that he managed to lay them down at the Prince's table without incident.

As the nobles sat to eat, Merlin stoked the fire, and collected Arthur's dirty clothes, then left the chambers to begin the arduous task of carrying water back for the Prince's bath. From time to time, Leon looked over to watch the boy work. The servant's arm and knee were obviously troubling him, and he struggled to carry and then lift the heavy water buckets in order to pour them into the bath, often wincing in pain and stopping to rest his arm or his leg or to sometimes to ease his back. Leon wondered if he should tell the Prince about Merlin's difficulties, but as he had already spoken out for the boy to Arthur several times in the last day, he worried that Arthur would begin to see it as interference, so he said nothing.

Leon thought he could be discreet about getting some food to the boy though, so he said "Well, I guess I'm not quite as hungry as I thought," loudly enough for Merlin to hear from where he working. Then he regretted having brought it to Arthur's attention, as the Prince raised his head when he noticed the leftover slice of meat.

"Leon, that's smoked boar you are leaving on your plate. Do you not want to keep it for later?" he asked.

"No, Sire," responded Leon, "I have had quite enough for tonight. I thought perhaps Merlin may as well have it, since I made him come directly from other duties to serve you, so I believe he has not really had time for a meal tonight," he continued, trusting that Arthur would agree. The knight noticed that Merlin had also heard him, and had stopped to look at the two nobles, with the beginnings of hope in his eyes.

But Arthur seemed to find the idea ridiculous. "Merlin?" he laughed. "Leon, this is a meat reserved for those of noble blood. Merlin would not even know what to do with it."

Leon decided he had to be more direct after all, "But Arthur, I have been made aware that the boy has had very little to eat today, what with us getting back so late, and then his having many extra duties to attend to due to Lord Aelrod's visit. He must be famished. I see no harm in him taking what will otherwise be wasted."

Arthur appeared to be considering it, but then shook his head and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Sir Leon, but if Merlin has not had time to eat, then he needs to take it up with the Castle Steward. He is the one to arrange that duty schedule, and I'm sure that if Merlin has missed the servants' meal, it must have been due to his own foolishness.

"I feel that I would be going behind the Steward's back if I condoned giving him smoked boar when he may have been in dereliction of his duties," he continued. "In any case, the meat will not go to waste, since I am still hungry."

Both Leon and Arthur saw Merlin sigh and hang his head in disappointment.

Arthur looked a little bit guilty, and said, "But Merlin, here are some bread rolls you can have. Neither Leon nor I have eaten ours. If you are hungry, these should help, and I don't see anything wrong in letting you have them."

Merlin smiled his thanks. At least he would not go hungry again, but Leon thought that his eyes were still pain-filled.

"Now Merlin," said Arthur, "once you've finished eating, you can take the dishes back to the kitchens." Then he added, and Leon suspected the Prince was trying his best to be understanding, "I know you've had a long day, so since you've already poured my bath and taken the laundry, I won't be needing you for anything else tonight."

"Thank you, Sire," said Merlin quietly, coming over to take the bread. "When will you need me tomorrow?"

"At the usual time," answered Arthur. Then while Merlin was eating the Prince turned to Leon and said, "Leon, I know we still need to finalize which of the squires and knights will participate in each of the contests, but do you mind if we do that over breakfast in the morning? I'm really looking forward to that bath that Merlin has finally managed to pour for me."

Leon chuckled and said, "No Sire. In fact I was rather hoping you would say that. I did not bother to rest during the afternoon, and I'm afraid it's catching up to me now. I will be happy to take my leave, and intend to head straight for my own bed!"

It was Arthur's turn to chuckle. "Well, then we are agreed!"

"So, Merlin," said Arthur, turning to the servant, who had finished his bread and was collecting up the dirty dishes, "Sir Leon will be joining me again for breakfast tomorrow morning, so you will need to ask for two meals again."

Merlin nodded his understanding and said, "Of course, Sire. I will be here at the usual time then," before he shifted the pile of dishes to a more comfortable position for his injured arm, and began to head towards the door.

Leon was also ready to leave, so he opened the door for the boy and the two walked down the hallway together. As they passed near the hallway leading towards the knight's chambers, Leon said to the servant, "I will see you tomorrow morning, Merlin. I hope you get some rest soon. And you should have Gaius take a look at your injuries too."

But Merlin just said, "Good night, Sir Leon," with a doubtful smile. It was only as he made his way down the hallway that Leon remembered that Merlin still had to report to the Night Steward where seemingly he would be given yet another chore before he was finally allowed to sleep.

Leon could only shake his head as he entered his chambers, wondering again if this was always the way things were for the young serving boy.


	5. Chapter 5

Leon awoke the next morning to the sound of birdsong from outside his windows. Without bothering to open his eyes, he smiled and stretched, taking a deep breath. Finally he opened his eyes, stretched again and then rolled out of his bed. He'd had a good restful sleep that night, having gotten to his bed quite early, and he felt refreshed and ready for whatever the day would bring.

Leon quickly washed, and then pulled on his clothing followed by his chainmail and his boots. He wanted to be at Arthur's chambers for breakfast as early as he could, since they still had to decide how to assign sixty or so young Camelot knights and squires to the four competitions and demonstrations that were to be held for Lord Aelrod during the day.

The lists needed to be drawn up and then posted on the large, ornate information panels in the Great Hall as soon as possible. The young competitors would be arriving there shortly after breaking their own fasts to check when they were to compete.

As Leon walked down the hallway from the knights' quarters towards the main corridor through the palace, he mentally ran through the group of candidates, trying to work out which of the young men would be best suited for each contest. He was so deep in thought that as he reached the intersection, he walked straight into someone who was coming from the hallway leading from the palace administrative offices, knocking him to the ground.

Startled, Leon opened his mouth to apologize and reached down to help the fallen man to his feet, only to see that it was Merlin who sat on the floor in front of him!

"Merlin!" Leon said, "Are you alright? I'm sorry, I was not watching where I was going. In any case, I did not expect to see anyone coming from that direction so early in the morning."

"I'm okay, thanks," answered Merlin as he allowed himself to be pulled back upright. The servant appeared just as surprised as the knight.

As the boy stood and looked up at the Leon, the knight frowned. Merlin looked positively exhausted, with dark circles under his bloodshot eyes, and skin so pale it was almost grey. But Merlin saw the knight's frown and must have mistaken it for anger, because he took a quick step back and lowered his eyes to the floor.

Leon tried to let the boy know he was not angry by smiling and teasing him gently. "What were you doing coming from that direction, anyway?" he asked, pointing back towards the offices. "I thought you lived with Gaius, and his chambers are on the other side of the castle. Is this some shortcut that only the servants know about?"

Merlin met his eyes again and gave a very slight smile back, before saying, "No. I wish there was such a shortcut, but I was not coming from Gaius' chambers. I never even got the chance to go home last night because I had to work in the kitchen cleaning dishes. I think I washed enough pots and plates to serve the entire kingdom!"

Merlin frowned in apparent disgust, then lowered his eyes and shook his head sadly before adding, "And apparently I can't even do that right, since I managed to drop one of the stacks I was holding and broke four plates!"

Then the boy looked back up at the knight as if begging him to understand and said, "I don't know what happened. I think I was just SO tired by then that I must have dozed off for a second, and then….'crash'"

At this, Merlin sighed, "So then I had to go and tell the Night Steward," he said, gesturing towards the hallway that he'd come from, "and ….. well….. he was not very happy with me."

Leon looked at the boy in alarm. "Merlin, did he beat you for that?" he asked.

Merlin answered, "No, not this time, but he took the money for the plates out of my pay instead. Ten silvers!" The boy groaned, "I almost wish he HAD caned me instead."

Leon smiled, a little in relief and a little at Merlin's apparent overreaction. "Ten silvers doesn't sound that bad Merlin," he chided gently. "I spend more than that for a light lunch at the tavern."

"You do? Really?" answered Merlin, eyes widening in surprise. "Well, I guess that's because you are a knight, Sir Leon, but I only earn thirty silvers in a whole month, so that's more than a week of pay for four plates. They didn't even look that special to me."

It was Leon's turn to look surprised. "Thirty silvers in a month? Is that the usual pay for a servant?" he asked.

"I don't really know," Merlin admitted. "We don't use coins and we don't have servants where I come from, and I never asked anybody here, so I can't really compare. But I suppose it must be right, since it's the Steward himself who pays me, and he ought to know."

Leon was not convinced though; the rate seemed awfully low to him. As he'd told Merlin, that amount would barely be enough to buy a couple of meals at the tavern, so he didn't know how the boy was meant to live off of it for a full month. But as the knight had no way to tell what the usual wage was, he said nothing more about it, and changed the subject, saying "So where are you going now, then. Home to bed at last?"

The boy looked at him in confusion for a moment, then said, "Well, no… I have to go and get Arthur up, and then get your breakfasts, remember? And I'm already late. Arthur's sure to be angry at me if I don't hurry, so I'd better get going, Sir Leon."

Leon looked at the exhausted servant in concern but could not very well send him home without Arthur's leave, so instead the knight said, "Merlin, I was just heading to Arthur's chambers myself. I had expected him to already be awake, so to save us ALL some time, how about I just go and wake him myself, while you go straight to the kitchen and get the breakfast."

Merlin looked at the knight with gratitude, and said, "You'd really do that, Sir Leon? I didn't think anybody but me would be brave enough,…. or maybe more like stupid enough,… to try and get him out of his bed….Mind he doesn't think you are me, or you are likely to get a goblet to the head!"

Leon chuckled and shook his head with a smile before saying, "Oh, I think I can handle things! Now off with you before I change my mind, boy!"

Leon kept shaking his head as he headed towards Arthur's chambers, glancing back a couple of times to where Merlin was limping wearily down the other corridor towards the kitchens.

* * *

It did not take long for Leon to reach Arthur's quarters, and in the end he did not even have to wake the Prince. Arthur was already up, and was in a very bad temper by the sound of the 'Enter' that came through the door when Leon knocked.

As Leon walked into the room, the goblet that Merlin had warned of did, indeed, come sailing through the air towards his head, but the knight caught it deftly even as he heard a gasp coming from the Prince.

"Sir, Leon!? I was expecting that lazy servant of mine. He should have been here an hour ago to get me ready BEFORE you arrived," exclaimed Arthur. "I don't know what's keeping him this time, but he'd better be ready for some extra stable-mucking for keeping me waiting on today of all days!"

Leon hesitated, wondering whether he should tell Arthur the details about his servant's difficult night. But the Prince was already angry, and the knight feared that Arthur would just see it as more proof that Merlin deserved yet more extra chores.

Finally the knight simply said, "Oh, I wouldn't be too hard on him, Sire; he was busy doing something for the Night Steward. I met him as he was on his way here from there, so I sent him back to get our breakfast and told him I would wake you myself".

Arthur looked at Leon for a moment, but seemed to be satisfied with the explanation since he said, "Fine. Well he'll be a few minutes then, so why don't we go ahead and plan out our rosters now, so Merlin can write them up while we eat?"

"Merlin can write, Sire?" asked Leon, surprised. He would not have expected a peasant boy to be able to read or write, and certainly not with enough skill to prepare official competition lists for use by the nobility! But then, the young servant had already surprised him several times over the last few days.

"Yes, actually he can," answered the Prince. "And very well too, though don't tell him I said so, or it will go straight to his head. He told me his mother taught him, though I've no idea where she learned it."

With that, Arthur began to put forward his thoughts as to who should compete in which competition, and Leon provided his own input. Within a very short time, they had sorted the young men so that each would participate in one or two events.

* * *

They were just finishing the list for the last event when Merlin arrived carrying the two breakfast trays, which Leon could see were stacked somewhat precariously, but evidently it was so that they put no weight on the boy's injured arm. The knight wondered if Merlin had tried something similar with the plates during his shift in the kitchen; if so, it was not surprising that he'd ended up dropping a stack.

"Ah, just in time, Merlin," said Arthur, adding "Well, except that I was actually expecting you over an hour ago. You are lucky that Sir Leon was here to wake me and assure me that it was not your usual laziness but some other duty that made you late, or you would already be in the stables, make no mistake!"

Merlin didn't say anything in response. He just came further into the room and gingerly placed the trays on the table in front of the two nobles, then stepped back with a large yawn to wait for his next orders.

The boy didn't look any better than he had when Leon had seen him earlier. In fact, he looked worse, standing with his shoulders hunched in weariness. Leon could now see that the bruising on Merlin's cheek from where Uther and the Steward had each struck him was beginning to fade from deep purple to a lurid green but it still looked painful, and from the way the boy was squinting in the dim light coming in at the edges of the closed curtains, Leon was sure he was suffering from a headache.

Arthur didn't seem to notice this however, and he began to explain what he wanted from Merlin. "Now that you are here, I need you to transcribe these lists while Leon and I are eating. They are to be posted in the Great Hall, so make sure they are legible."

Then he gestured to the four scrolls that he and Leon had just finished drafting and said, "Each of these scrolls here is for a separate event, and I've written the name of the event at the top. So each needs to be put on a separate parchment. You will find everything you need over on my desk."

"Yes, Sire. When do you need these for?" asked the servant, yawning again.

" _Mer_ lin, did you not listen?" answered Arthur condescendingly, "These are the lists for TODAY'S competitions, and since the first one is not long after BREAKFAST, obviously I need them by the time Leon and I have finished eating. That's why I asked you to do them 'WHILE WE ARE EATING'. Now, any other stupid questions?"

"Sorry, Sire, I…..it's just that it's the mealtime for the servants, and...", stammered Merlin before being cut off by Arthur.

"And … you will be missing it this morning, Merlin. These lists need to be done right away. If you had been here when you were supposed to be, then you would have had plenty of time for your breakfast, but you were not and so you do not, do you see?" said Arthur, who was with no doubt finding himself amusing.

Leon was not amused though. He was angry that Merlin apparently would get nothing to eat yet again. Leon just wished he knew if Arthur was really aware of the situation. He suspected not, but with Arthur still angry at the boy, the knight decided once again to keep silent, lest he cause Merlin more trouble by speaking up.

"Yes, Sire. I will get right on it then…." said Merlin dully, taking the four scrolls and making his way slowly over to the desk. He sat and then took up the quill and dipped it into the ink with a sigh, before leaning over the first page and beginning to work.

* * *

With Merlin hard at work on the competition lists, Leon and Arthur sat to enjoy their breakfast. The meal passed pleasantly enough, and Arthur's temper faded as the two talked about the coming events.

As usual, the Prince was very confident about his chances in the two competitions that he was going to participate in. Leon was even able to forget about the miserable young serving boy for a while, and laughed with the Prince, arguing that one of the young men coming in from the outlying regions was known for his archery skills, and Arthur may find he had his work cut out for him in that event.

Then, about halfway through their breakfast, Merlin made his way back to the table and presented Arthur with the finished parchments. The Prince scrutinized the work for a minute, but apparently found no fault with it, since he simply placed the pages down, and waved Merlin away, gesturing towards the fireplace.

Leon noticed the boy glance longingly at the rapidly decreasing pile of food on the breakfast plates, before going over to stoke up the fire. Feeling guilty, the knight put down the sausage he had been about to eat, and pushed it to the side of the plate beside his bread roll. Hopefully Merlin would get the chance to take them when he brought the trays back to the kitchens.

As Leon went back to his conversation with Arthur, he kept half an eye on Merlin. He watched as the boy limped about the room, opening the curtains, making the bed and then laying out Arthur's clothes and collecting the dirty laundry. At last Merlin picked up a pair of boots, sat down by the fire and began to polish them. Leon thought the servant almost seemed mesmerized by the repetitive motion, and suspected that it may well lull the boy to sleep.

Leon did not have long to ponder though, as Arthur was now finished eating and was ready to get his day under way.

"Merlin," called the Prince. "I hope you are finished with those boots, because I need to get over to the Tournament Grounds."

"Yes, Sire", said the boy, yawning, and then standing slowly before coming over to the table with the boots in hand.

"Well, I don't want them HERE," snapped Arthur. "What's wrong with you this morning?!"

"Just tired," answered Merlin, yawning again. "And HUNGRY," he added with a glare at his master.

Leon had to smile. At least the boy had not completely lost his spirit. The knight wondered again whether he should tell Arthur exactly how little rest and food the boy had had in the past few days, but the Prince's bad temper seemed to have returned, so Leon decided that it would be better to mention it a later in the day, and only if Arthur won an event.

"Well, I don't have time for you to be hungry and tired," said Arthur, frowning back at the boy. "While Leon goes to bring the event lists to the Great Hall, I need you to get me dressed."

"Leon, will you return here afterward, so we can go to over to the Grounds together?" he asked, turning to the knight and handing him the neatly written pages.

"Yes, if you'd like," answered Leon, putting aside his napkin and taking the lists.

"Fine," said the Prince before turning back to his servant. "Merlin, after you bring back the breakfast dishes, I've got a lot for you to do while I am out.

"Make sure that when you do the laundry, you include my brown leather jacket, as I want to wear that to the feast tonight. And don't forget to polish ALL of the buttons. Last time you skipped half of them!" said Arthur, giving his servant a pointed look.

Merlin frowned a bit at the admonishment, but did not get a chance to defend himself, because Arthur was already giving him the next part of his orders.

"Did you muck out my horses yesterday?" asked the Prince facetiously. "Oh, no you didn't because, …I forgot,… I gave you the afternoon off! Well you need to do that this morning too. Lord Aelrod said he wanted to look over the royal stables this afternoon, and I can't have him seeing dirty stalls."

Leon frowned. Somehow this did not seem very fair of Arthur, although it obviously was a chore that needed to be done. The knight still disapproved of how the Prince addressed his servant, however.

Merlin did not seem particularly surprised about it though. He simply sighed, and shook his head sadly at being given this hated task but held his tongue, no doubt waiting for Arthur to add more to his list of chores.

Of course the Prince did not disappoint. "And once you've done that… actually no, before you do that I need you to bring my ceremonial sword over to the royal armourer near the East Gate. I need to get a scratch on the hilt repaired before tonight, and he is the only one with the proper type of red glazing."

Leon's mouth opened at this. The East Gate was at least an hour away on foot, and would surely be even longer for Merlin due to his injured knee.

Merlin must have had the same thought, because he said, "Arthur, the East Gate? That's going to take me all morning! Can I at least take a horse to speed things up?"

The Prince at least looked apologetic when he answered, "Unfortunately not, Merlin. The horses are on reserve for the visiting competitors. Especially today, since many of them will be resting their own mounts before the horsemanship competition."

Then Arthur had the grace to look even guiltier as he added, "And I cannot even let you wait there for the repairs to be finished, because it will take several hours. You'll need to come back to tend to the stables, and then I also need you to bring my ceremonial cape to the seamstress over on the north side of the market. Some of the embroidery has come unravelled."

Arthur had apparently had enough of feeling guilty though, because he added, "You can blame yourself for that one, _Mer_ lin. You should have taken care of it two weeks ago when I first pointed it out to you!"

Merlin scowled, but did not disagree.

But Arthur wasn't finished yet. "And while you are waiting for the cape, you need to go to the silversmith who is right beside the North Gate. He had the commission to create the commemorative medallions that we will be giving to each of the competitors at tonight's feast, and they need to be picked up."

At this, Arthur turned to Leon with pride in his eyes. "Leon, did I tell you about the medallions? My father let me design them. They've been stamped with the Dragon representing the House of Pendragon on one side, and the Eagle of Cambria on the other to symbolize Lord Aelrod's visit. I've seen the preliminary castings and they looked very impressive indeed!"

Leon smiled abstractedly at the Prince and said, "I look forward to seeing them, Sire." But inwardly the knight was tallying the time it would take Merlin to do all of these chores. He'd already arrived at mid-afternoon, and had not yet included the additional hours the boy would need to go back to the armourer to pick up Arthur's sword, nor the time needed to get the Prince ready for the evening – whatever those tasks would be. There was no way the servant could complete all of this in time for the feast, especially not with his injuries and in his current state of exhaustion.

He suspected that Merlin had come to the same conclusion, as the boy now had a worried look on his face.

But before either Leon or Merlin could say anything about their concerns, Arthur added yet more work to the list. "And be sure to bring those medallions here before you go back for the sword, Merlin. I want them under my protection as soon as possible. You are likely to drop them down a well or something, if I leave them in your hands.

"And, once you get back with the sword, you can prepare my bath. I'll need one before dressing for the feast, since I will be competing in both of the events this afternoon. And winning them I expect," he said, smiling broadly at Leon as he added this last comment.

Then he turned back to Merlin again, "Oh, and Merlin, I suppose it goes without saying, but you will be expected to attend me at the feast tonight. And you will also be serving Roran along with Alfred and Ewan. We will be sitting together."

"Do you think you can manage that without making an utter fool of yourself?" the Prince added in what Leon presumed was meant to be a teasing manner.

Merlin stared at him in dismay and Leon thought the boy was probably just too weary to pick up on anything other than the apparent criticism, and too worried about how he was supposed to carry out all of his tasks in time to be back to prepare Arthur his bath.

Merlin finally voiced his concerns, "But Arthur, how can I possibly do all that in one day? You've got me walking half the length of the kingdom! Can you get somebody else to do any of this stuff?"

"No Merlin, Arthur said. "I don't have time to look for somebody else, and after all YOU are my manservant. I should not have to. You should be jumping to do what I ask you! Now, quit complaining and just get on with it."

Leon saw Merlin sadly shake his head in resignation before following the Prince over to where his clothes were laid out.

Leon excused himself, and headed towards the door. The knight did not understand how Arthur could be so oblivious about the length of time it would take his servant to finish everything he'd been given to do. But the knight could not see what he could do to help, since he was needed to oversee most of the competitions. Leon had to think about it. Maybe by the time he got back to the Prince's chambers after posting the lists he could come up with something to help Merlin.

* * *

Leon was happier as he made his way back from the Great Hall. The stable hand that had helped Merlin the previous day had been making his way out of the castle just as Leon had reached the main floor. It turned out that the lad had been heading home and was only too happy to have a chance to earn another silver coin by mucking out the Prince's horses. That would at least take one of the time-consuming tasks off of Merlin's shoulders.

Leon didn't know if that would solve the entire problem, but it certainly would help things for the young servant. He smiled again as he imagined Merlin's reaction when he reached the stables to find the job already done.

As he reached the corridor leading towards Arthur's chambers, Leon was so caught up in his daydreams, that it took him a few moments to realize that the King was in the hall just ahead of him. Leon had not realized that Uther meant to accompany them to the tournament grounds, and he suspected that Arthur did not either, as the Prince hadn't mentioned it.

The knight made to greet the King, but he paused as he realized that Uther was looking at the ground on the far side of Arthur's doorway.

Leon looked to see what had caught the King's eye and had to hide a groan of dismay. There on the floor beside the door sat the unfortunate Merlin, with his back against the wall, and his head bent so that it was resting on his drawn-up knees.

The boy was obviously asleep, though the knight knew that Merlin could not have been there for more than ten minutes, if that.

A week ago Leon would have found it amusing to witness the King catch a lazy, incompetent Merlin snoozing while he was meant to be about his duties. Now, however, the knight knew that if the servant was asleep at the door it was only because Merlin's body had betrayed him and shut itself down, whether the boy had willed it or not. Given his state of exhaustion, Leon was not really surprised that Merlin had reached this point, but he was dismayed that it had to happen just when the King was there to witness it.

So rather than being amused over the chance to see a servant being put into his proper place, Leon found himself worried over Uther's imminent reaction to the scene.

His worries proved justified when the King kicked at the boy's feet in outrage, and shouted, "Idiot boy, what do you think you are doing, sleeping while my son is no doubt awaiting your return from the kitchens," and the King gestured at the trays by Merlin's side, empty of all but the sausage and roll that Leon had so carefully set aside.

"Prince Arthur has important things to do and cannot wait on your whim to decide to serve him. Have you learned nothing?"

Though it had not dislodged him, Merlin had awoken abruptly at the kick and Leon saw how he clutched one hand to his forehead with a pained wince before raising his too pale face, bleary-eyed to the King.

"I'm sorry, Sire," stuttered the boy, as he climbed painfully to his feet. "I don't know what happened. I was just about to bring the dishes back to the kitchens and...", Merlin trailed off, as if he could not put his thoughts in words.

But in any case, the King did not give him a chance, shouting "What happened is that you have again put your own desires before the needs of your master. I WILL NOT HAVE THIS."

Uther then called over to a pair of guards who were watching in amusement at the end of the hall. "This boy has another appointment with the stocks," ordered Uther. "Have him kept there until the midday bell."

The guards quickly moved to obey, and one of them grabbed the servant's wrists roughly and pinned them behind his back.

Leon saw the boy scrunch his eyes and gasp in pain at the rough treatment to his injured arm, and his face paled even further. Leon thought once again that the boy looked ill, but though Uther also seemed to be watching him intently, he did not seem to care about the boy's pain.

"But Sire, please," pleaded Merlin as the guards made to lead him away. "I've got so many chores to do for Arthur today, and I'm already behind on them. I will never get them done if I'm to spend the morning in the stocks," he added wearily.

"I'm not surprised to hear you are behind, if you spend your time napping when you should be about your work," retorted Uther.

"And you needn't worry. Your chores will be waiting for you on your release. I intend to tell Arthur of this latest transgression, and you will not be permitted any meal or time to rest until you have finally completed your duties to his satisfaction today. Maybe this time you will learn to do them in a timely manner."

"But I...," began Merlin in disbelief. "But...," he trailed off and lowered his eyes to the floor. Leon could see that those striking blue eyes now had the beginnings of tears of despair. Merlin let himself be led away without speaking again and Leon knew that the miserable boy had given up all hope of mercy from anyone in that corridor.

Unlike the last time he had stood by as Uther disciplined Merlin, this time Leon felt a most definite guilt as he watched the boy being led away for another unjustified punishment. He was still loathe to speak up to Uther, though. After all, a knight could not contradict his sovereign, especially not in the presence of common guards and a servant. And no matter how Leon's views about servants had changed over the past days, this point had not.

However, the senior knight was now able to admit to himself that servant or not, he did care about Merlin's welfare, and he vowed that he would check up on the boy in the stocks as soon as he had an opportunity.

With that resolution, and with nothing else he could do for the boy at the moment, Leon followed Uther into the Prince's chambers.


	6. Chapter 6

It turned out that Leon was not able to check on Merlin until several hours later, the morning's unarmed combat and horsemanship contests having taken somewhat longer than he had expected.

The knight had a little over an hour until the beginning of the archery event, and rather than go back to the castle, he decided to buy himself some lunch at one of the small stands that always seemed to pop up during tournaments. That would take him close to the stocks, and would also give him a chance to see how the boy was faring.

As he drew near, he frowned in concern. Merlin was locked into the stocks as was usual for the punishment, but he was almost motionless, with his head hanging down in defeat. Leon thought the lad seemed very close to reaching the breaking point of his endurance. The townsfolk also seemed to have noticed the boys despair, and none of them approached to throw their bits of rotting fruit in fun as they would usually have done.

However, the same was not true of Leon's two squires. Neither Alfred nor Ewan had taken part in the horsemanship demonstration that had just ended. But rather than use their free time to prepare their minds and bodies for the archery contest that would be their first event of the afternoon, here they were, apparently feeling the need to torment Merlin instead.

Or rather, Ewan was here for that reason. Leon could see that Alfred looked disturbed and seemed to be trying to pull his friend towards the Tournament Grounds, but Ewan simply shrugged him off and stooped to pick something up with the obvious intention to throw it at the restrained servant.

Leon had seen enough, and went over to confront his squires before Ewan had the chance to take aim. "What do you two think you are doing?" he shouted.

Ewan and Alfred turned in surprise to see the senior knight bearing down on them, and Ewan scrambled for a reasonable explanation. "Sir Leon, did you hear what that idiot has told Alfred, and who knows whom else? That he's saved our lives or something ridiculous. He's obviously just out to try and,… I don't know,…. get himself some glory or reward, or get out of some chores or something," he said. "There's no way he could have done everything he said. I'm trying to teach him a lesson."

Leon stopped in his tracks, speechless and open mouthed at the squire's denial, then said angrily, "Ewan, Merlin has not had a chance to tell anybody anything. In fact, now that I think on it, I've never even heard him mention the night that he became Arthur's manservant by saving YOUR PRINCE'S life, and the entire COURT witnessed his quick thinking that night. He is NOT out for 'glory', and we CERTAINLY have not given him any REWARD, even though he DESERVES it!

"Did you ACTUALLY hear Merlin say this, or did Alfred tell you? Well, it does not matter because I AM telling you about this because I SAW IT MYSELF! Or do you think I am also out for something?"

Ewan shook his head and took a step back from the enraged knight, all his bravado gone. He sounded like nothing more than a chastised child when he stammered, "But…. but Sir Leon, …. How could he have…. I mean, look at him. He's just a clumsy, stupid, serving boy!"

Leon calmed himself enough to explain coldly, "He may be clumsy sometimes, and a serving boy, Ewan, but he's anything but stupid. It was his quick thinking that saved Arthur on that first night, that saved Alfred in the river, and then saved both you and Arthur in that bandit attack."

Leon paused to catch his breath before continuing his lecture, his voice rising as he became angry again. "He may have had luck on his side that time, because, granted, he had no elegance with that sword, but that just means he was all the MORE courageous for having come to your aid in the first place. I EXPECTED him to hide himself in the forest, and many a TRAINED young squire would have done the same thing in his situation, but he only thought of saving your undeserving hide.

"Yes, he may be a serving boy, but he saved all of your lives, and you OWE HIM YOUR RESPECT AND YOUR THANKS for that, regardless of his station!" the knight shouted.

Ewan stood with his head bowed at the reprimand, but Leon was not finished with him yet.

"And instead, he gets this," the knight continued in a dangerously soft voice. "You pummeling him with potatoes, with the obvious and only intent to hurt him and to cause him more misery than he's already been put through these last days, and much of it at your own hands."

When Ewan made no attempt to deny it, Leon asked, "Do you even know why he's in the stocks in the first place?"

Ewan shook his head without daring to look up.

"It's because he stayed up ALL NIGHT in the forest, caring for Alfred because nobody volunteered to help him out, and he took his responsibility to you all so seriously. Then he was made to work ALL NIGHT AGAIN last night in the kitchens to help prepare the feast that YOU will be enjoying tonight, while HE has to stand and SERVE it to you.

"So it should not be surprising to learn that he fell asleep while serving Arthur this morning, and even though it was for no more than ten minutes, unfortunately it was just when the King happened to come by, so Uther saw fit to PUNISH him for it.

"So how is that for REWARD AND GLORY, boy!" Leon spat.

After a moment of silence, Ewan looked back up at Leon, visibly chastened, but he made one more appeal in a wavering voice, "But.. Sir Leon, he is still, after all, just a servant. Surely these were all just unfortunate results of his… normal… duties…..?"

Leon was about to answer, when Alfred spoke up instead. "No, Ewan," he said quietly, shaking his head at his friend. "Nothing he did was 'normal'. For the God's sakes, he jumped into a river to come after me, and I was panicking and fighting him, and not helping in the least. I think I hurt him, but he didn't give up until he had pulled me out.

"And even after us being so awful to him on the morning before we left, he still looked after me so attentively after I was out of the water, and then all through that night. And I saw him go into the water after you, too. He didn't hesitate for a second, he just got on with it."

Alfred looked intensely at Ewan, who was staring back in some surprise now that he was hearing the full story directly from the mouth of his friend. He had not actually been in a position to have witnessed any of the events of the river rescue firsthand, even though he'd been such a large part of them.

But Alfred went on, surprising his friend even more, "And then when the bandits struck, did you know that I hid? I was just so tired and sore, and I didn't have a weapon so I just ran into the forest before anyone could see me. And up comes this skinny, soaking wet serving boy with a sword that was much too heavy for him, and limping from when I had hurt him in the river, and he looks up and sees a bandit almost upon you. Does he hide like I did? Like he probably should have? No, he runs over and strikes down the man who would certainly have killed you.

"Ewan, he is a SERVANT, and not even OUR servant," Alfred said, pleading for his friend to see sense. "How is it the least bit his 'normal' duty to do any of that? He is supposed to polish boots and bring Arthur his meals, and we don't even let him do that in peace."

"I agree with Sir Leon," Alfred said finally, with a resolute nod of his head.

"We BOTH owe him our thanks, not … this," he said, gesturing to where Ewan still held a potato. "And if a mere servant can show such loyalty and responsibility to us, even without any vows or promises of knighthood, then shouldn't we, who are to take such oaths, strive to do the same?"

And then realizing there was something he could actually do for the boy, Alfred added, "We should never have come here to the stocks, but now that we ARE here, I intend to make sure that not one thing touches him until he is released."

Ewan looked at his friend's determined face, and then over to where Merlin was hunched, still unmoving, with his eyes scrunched closed and his shackled hands balled into white-knuckled fists. Leon thought that the servant seemed to be fighting with everything he had against the fatigue and pain, and guessed that the boy was probably so caught up in his misery that he was completely unaware of anything going on around him.

"I…I'm sorry, Sir Leon," said the squire at last. "I just….. I was so sure that it could not be true… "

"I did not WANT it to be true," he then admitted, "Because that would just prove what an ass I have been to him, I guess. But since it IS true….. then I also have to agree with you," he said, looking back up at the senior knight.

And, adding a nod of resolution to match Alfred's, he said "I will stay with Alfred, Sir Leon. And you can be sure that I,…. we ….will never treat Merlin, or any other servant for that matter, with such disrespect again. We owe him that at least."

"Very well," said Leon, satisfied that the young men finally understood how serious it was to be responsible for those who, as knights, they would one day soon be called on to protect.

"I will hold you to this," he told them. "Now, make sure that the boy is not harmed any further, and that he is released before you make your way to the archery competition. Uther decreed that he be held until the noon bell, and I think we all can agree that he must not suffer even one second beyond that!"

Leaving the squires to their watch, Leon headed over to the stables. He often found that with competitions where the participants were primarily squires and very young knights, the youngsters often let their excitement get the best of them, sometimes to the detriment of their mounts and weapons.

And although neglected weapons would usually just cause their owners some extra labour and embarrassment when they were discovered, neglected horses were another matter. The senior knight preferred to see for himself that every mount was being properly cared for.

* * *

About an hour later, satisfied that everything was in order in the stables, Leon began to make his way back across the market and towards the Tournament Grounds where the archery event was due to start.

Not too far away, he spotted Merlin. The boy must just have been released from the stocks, and was limping slowly back towards the castle.

The knight smiled as he saw Gaius catch up to his ward. But rather than the happy reunion Leon expected, he was disappointed to hear that even the physician seemed displeased with the hard-working boy today.

"Merlin, where have you been? I haven't seen you in over two days. I hope you haven't been neglecting your duties, off in the tavern with your friends," Leon heard Gaius snap.

Merlin flinched as though Gaius had struck him, and Leon could see that his mentor's insinuations had deeply hurt the boy.

Surprisingly, Gaius did not seem to notice though, for he went on in the same accusatory tone, "And I have some chores for you, or had you conveniently forgotten them? We agreed that you would continue to help me, even with your duties to Arthur, so I have not hired on anyone, but I expect you to live up to your responsibilities, Merlin."

The servant did not reply, and kept looking at his mentor in despair while the man continued to hammer at the boy with his words.

"And you were supposed to have collected the bottles from the glassworks shop YESTERDAY. Now, Gwen has told me that you were away with Arthur for part of that, so I understand why it is late, but it really cannot wait any longer. And I have to tell you that I DO NOT appreciate having to come looking for you about this, when I know you have been back since noon yesterday."

Merlin still did not respond, and only dropped his gaze from his mentor's face. Leon thought he could see tears of misery forming in the exhausted boy's eyes, but still Gaius did not notice and he continued chastising his ward.

"And since you are well aware that I cannot carry them myself because of my injured foot, I really need you to take care of it right away. Is that CLEAR?" The physician asked sharply.

"Yes, Gaius. I will take care of it right now," came the sad and quiet answer as the boy looked back up at his mentor.

At last Gaius seemed to notice the pain that his accusations had caused and frowned in concern. He looked more closely at his ward, and took in the tear tracks and boy's obvious fatigue. Then he reached up and gently touched at the bruises on Merlin's face, and said much more gently, "Merlin, what's happened, how did you get these? Are you all right?"

But Merlin pulled away from the physician sharply, and said with a hint of defiance, "I...I'm fine Gaius. You are not the only one who has been unhappy with my work in the last few days, that's all."

"And I haven't been anywhere near a tavern, and I haven't forgotten either," the boy explained, with as much vehemence as his weary body would permit, "I've honestly just been so busy that I haven't had the time to take care of it."

Leon saw Gaius nod his understanding, though the elderly man's frown of concern for his ward deepened. Then the physician reached back over to the boy and drew him into a loose hug. Merlin resisted for a moment, but then visibly relaxed and closed his eyes, drawing on the comfort, before Gaius released him and stepped back.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you Merlin," the physician apologized in a kind and gentle voice that Leon thought must be his more usual tone with his ward. "I should know better than anyone that you would never neglect your duties, and I was very wrong to say that to you."

He went on to explain, "It's this blasted foot that has me in a bind. I just cannot seem to get on with my own work efficiently, and it has got me frustrated no end. Still, I had no right to take it out on you."

"That's all right Gaius," responded Merlin quietly, and Leon thought sadly to himself that there seemed to be entirely too many people who took out their frustrations on the boy.

"I wish I was being more helpful to you," Merlin continued, "But Arthur and the Castle Steward just have me so busy...but I will go and get the bottles for you right now."

"Thank you, my boy," answered the physician warmly. "Now you will need to be careful. This set of bottles is a special order and is quite large. It is also a particularly fragile type of glass, so you will need to help the merchant with wrapping it properly like I taught you, so you are able to get it back to my workshop without it breaking."

Leon frowned because this errand would put the boy even further behind in his chores for Arthur, and there were already far too many of those waiting for the servant. Leon was beginning to wonder if Merlin ever got a break. Was it like this for all of the palace servants? He'd never really considered what their days were like before.

The knight watched as Merlin turned and began to limp slowly towards the market, while Gaius headed back towards the castle. The boy sighed, and Leon wished he could help, but no stable hands handily presented themselves this time, and Leon himself had already lingered too long in the market.

* * *

Leon reached the tournament grounds after Arthur, Alfred and Ewan, along with most of the other knights and squires who were to take part in the archery competition, had already arrived. He headed over towards the stands where he could see that Lord Aelrod and the King just getting seated. Roran had also strung his bow, having asked to participate rather than watch.

As with the other events, Leon was himself not taking part today. The day's events were intended to showcase the skills of the squires and newly knighted nobles around the same age as the Lord of Cambria's son. The senior knight's job was simply to explain the rules and provide the official start.

This contest promised to be fast-moving. The participants were to make their way on foot, one at a time and as quickly as possible, through an obstacle course that was set with targets. This would test the archers' abilities to shoot from various physical positions, and to handle various degrees of obstruction and at various distances. Speed and accuracy would both be taken into account, and the winner was to be presented with 50 gold pieces during the awards ceremony at the evening's feast.

Once Leon had given the starting signal, he stepped back towards the stands to watch. As expected, Arthur placed well, though he did not win. To Leon's surprise, that honour went to Ewan.

Evidently the mornings 'discussions' about Merlin and the responsibilities of knights had caused a substantial shift in the young man's attitude. The result was that the squire remained focused and serious through the entire course, and won the event handily. Leon only hoped that the newly learned lessons would hold. If they did, Ewan would be a fine knight.

Even Alfred made a respectable showing, although he still sported a bandage on his arm from his tumble down the river bank two days previous.

Lord Aelrod seemed impressed by the skills of the Camelot knights. His son had not disgraced himself by any means, but it was clear that his abilities could be honed by the Camelot training regime.

Arthur was not so impressed with the event though, and he had a tendency to be a poor loser, not having had much practice at anything but winning. As he joined Leon to head back towards the castle to take some refreshments before the next event, Leon knew that the Prince would be looking for a way to prove his superiority.

Unfortunately, that opportunity presented itself in Merlin as they walked through the market. The boy struggled his way out of the bottle merchant's shop just as Leon and Arthur were about to walk past it, having taken the more interesting route through the market rather the faster one Leon had used earlier.

Merlin was laden down with what looked to be several dozen packs and bags of various sizes. Leon was not sure how he could see where he was going.

Arthur must have thought the same thing, and with a malicious grin on his face, stuck his foot out directly into Merlin's path.

It took Leon a moment to realize what the Prince was intending, and he did not have time to call out a warning. He could only watch in horror as the serving boy stumbled over the foot, before trying to catch his balance.

Merlin was only partly successful. He managed not to fall, but unfortunately the sudden shift in his balance caused half of his burden to come loose, and it landed on the ground, shattering loudly.

Leon rounded on the laughing Prince, outraged that the young noble could find it funny to cause such a mishap to his servant, who had only been trying to carry out his duties.

But before he could say anything, the merchant, followed by the castle Steward, who must have been there on his own errand, came running out of the shop.

"What have you done now, you clumsy idiot?" bellowed the Steward, grabbing at Merlin's jacket and pulling the boy back towards the door of the shop, then stopping when he saw Arthur and Leon standing nearby.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Sire," he said to the Prince. "I did not know you were there. It seems that your manservant has made yet another mess of things."

Then, turning back to Merlin he shouted again, "I asked you a question, boy. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I.. Nothing ...," stammered Merlin, looking towards Arthur. No doubt he hoped that the Prince would explain that he had caused the accident, but to Leon's dismay, Arthur said nothing.

"Um..., I mean it was an accident..." Merlin tried hopelessly.

"Well, I'd say this accident will cost you," said the Steward icily, and Leon saw Merlin flinch in fear. "Gaius will need these broken things replaced," the man continued, before turning to the bottle merchant who stood watching with interest.

"Good Merchant," he said, "What would you say is the value of the wares that Merlin has broken through his carelessness?"

The merchant took a few moments to study both the sacks that were broken and those that were not, before he straightened and said, "It's at least thirty silvers."

Then he took a quick sympathetic look at Merlin before turning back to the Steward again to add, "But as it is for Gaius, and because the boy is often here and seems to be a good lad, I will replace everything broken for twenty."

"Very well," said the Steward. "And since I am quite certain that the boy does not have that amount with him, I will see that is deducted from his wages and sent to you directly."

Merlin stood in white-faced shock and Leon recalled that this amount was all that Merlin had left of his pay, since the Night Steward had already taken the rest for broken plates that morning.

Nodding his agreement with the plan, the merchant turned to Arthur and asked, "But may I have his help to pack the new wares, your majesty? I know the lad was in a hurry to get back to his chores for you, but Gaius is very particular about how the glass is packaged, and the boy has a knack for it..."

"Yes of course," said Arthur and turning to look at his servant, the Prince added mockingly, "Merlin's many, MANY unfinished chores will be awaiting him when he finally gets back to my chambers after setting his mistakes to rights here."

Leon was uncertain if this was meant to be the Prince's usual teasing response to his servant, although he thought it probably was. Unfortunately, neither the Steward nor Merlin took it that way. Leon knew that Arthur must have missed both the look of anger that passed from the Steward to the servant and the look of fear that went the other way, since the Prince just seemed to be amused.

"Well Merlin, I hope this will cure you of your carelessness, although I doubt it," said the Steward to the motionless boy. Then the man's eyes narrowed menacingly and he said, "And with the Prince's leave, tomorrow morning after you have brought his breakfast, you will report to me and we will be discussing these 'many, MANY unfinished chores' along with any measures we may take to prevent it from happening again."

Merlin gulped in fear at this and took a step back. Leon could see that the boy was trembling as he whispered "Yes, sir, I...I will be there."

The Steward seemed satisfied, and giving a final glare at Merlin, he took his leave from Leon and Arthur, hitched his bag over his shoulder and started on his way back towards the palace.

Merlin's fear soon gave way to anger and he turned to the Prince, and said, "Oh, I'm in so much trouble now! Why could you not just have admitted your mistake for this once?

"And why did you have to go and tell him I have so much unfinished work. It's not MY fault that I had to come out here to help Gaius today. I would have been able to do it yesterday if Ewan and Alfred hadn't spooked their horses and needed to be pulled out of a river.

Leon noticed that even in his anger and fear about the imminent trip to the Steward, the boy still did not try to take any credit for the action he had taken as a result.

But rather than getting any sympathy or support from the Prince, Arthur shouted back at the boy in anger, "Don't blame me for your own foolishness, Merlin. If you hadn't decided to take a nap outside my chambers this morning, you would not have been sent to the stocks and you would have had plenty of time to finish your chores, even with this errand of Gaius'.

Leon saw Merlin clench his fists in anger at this, but then the fight seemed to go out of him, and the boy just shook his head wearily and said with a sigh, "Right, then, Sire. If that's what you think, then I'll just get on with things…. again," before walking back over to the sacks of broken glass, and beginning to collect them.

Arthur turned to Leon with a smile, "Honestly Leon, I'm sorry you had to see that. Merlin can be such a little girl sometimes..."

He broke off when he saw Leon's look of displeasure though. "Oh, come on Leon. It's not like that pompous buffoon can really hurt Merlin over a bit of broken glass…"

But seeing Leon's scowl deepen, Arthur frowned in concern and asked, "What is it Leon?"

The knight looked back intently at the Prince and answered quietly, so that only the Prince could hear, "He can though, and he will, I think."

Then, seeing Arthur's look of confusion, Leon explained, "Hurt him, I mean. The Steward DOES hurt Merlin. FREQUENTLY, I think. And he is not the only one..."

Arthur was startled and turned to watch Merlin with concern as the boy tried to collect the sacks that had fallen to the ground. It was again obvious to Leon that the weary servant was favouring his arm, but he suspected that the Prince was not even aware of that injury. Then Arthur turned around to glare at the Steward, who had now reached the edge of the market.

"Wait, Arthur" said the knight when it looked like the Prince intended to go after the man. "There's more to it and from what I've seen over the past few days, it's not entirely the Steward's fault that he thinks Merlin needs disciplining. You yourself have essentially just stated publicly, and not for the first time, how terrible a servant the boy is, since he doesn't get his work done. As Merlin's overseer, the man is just reacting to that."

Arthurs opened his mouth in horror before saying, "But Leon, I didn't mean anything when I said that. I was just teasing Merlin like I...oh,...always do…" Arthur trailed off at that before saying adamantly, "I certainly didn't intend for him to be punished over it, though. After all, I am his master and I thought that any discipline he needed would be left to me!"

But Leon shook his head and said, "That's not what happens though, Arthur, and MANY people seem to feel the need to help you set your servant straight."

"Look," the knight continued, "I had already intended to tell you about what I've seen over the past few days, because I think you will be the best person to step in on the boy's behalf. But we can't talk about it here in the middle of a public marketplace.

"May I come to your chambers tomorrow morning to discuss Merlin's welfare with you? BEFORE he needs to report to the Steward?"

"Yes. Yes of course," said Arthur, and looking over towards where Merlin had collected the broken glass and was heading into the shop, he said to Leon earnestly, "In spite of how I tease him, I do know that he always tries his best for me, and I CERTAINLY would not see him punished without my leave, Sir Leon."

"I regret tripping him up," continued the Prince apologetically, "and I did not really realize he was carrying bottles, nor that breaking a few would be such a big problem for him, or of course I never would have done it."

"Arthur," responded the knight solemnly, "You need to realize that in Merlin's position, he has no choice but to obey and satisfy you, or else he is punished for his failure.

Then making sure he still had the Prince's attention, Leon continued, "And when YOU cause him to fail, or when you set him something that is impossible to accomplish, he STILL suffers for it. You are a noble, a PRINCE, and he is a commoner, so he has NO recourse."

"He's also YOUR servant, and so it's YOUR responsibility to make sure that CANNOT happen."

Arthur frowned and appeared to be thinking carefully about this.

Leon wondered if the Prince had simply never realized how closely Merlin's wellbeing depended on his whim, so the knight decided to broach the other large concern he'd had that day.

"And for the same reason, you'd better also rethink the list of chores you gave him today," he said, "It was unfair of you. By my tally, it would have taken him until well after nightfall to finish just the errands, even if he had started the minute you gave him his orders. And yet you somehow expect him to be back in time to pour you a bath after the tournament?!"

Arthur began to frown at the reprimand, but stayed silent, so Leon continued, "And because of his trip to the stocks and this errand of Gaius', to which you have just added over an hour, by the way, I don't believe he has even been able to start on your list. And yet your father has promised that he would get no meal or rest until everything was completed to your satisfaction…."

Leon was about to explain how the boy was already so sorely in need of both rest and food, but since just then Ewan, Alfred and Roran saw them from across the market and began to make their way over, the knight decided to leave those concerns for later.

* * *

After having enjoyed some of the refreshments set out in the Great Hall, Leon found himself at the marketplace again. He had left the castle earlier than the others, so he could stop by the stables to give his mare a treat, and now he was headed back towards the Tournament Grounds.

He almost laughed, as once again he nearly ran into Merlin. The boy was leaving the bottle merchant's shop and was just as laden down with sacks and packages as he had been the first time.

"So, Merlin," he said, "Have you managed to replace all of the broken glassware, then?"

The boy looked up, startled to see the knight in front of him, and answered sadly, "Um…yeah…finally. Now I have to take it all to Gaius. I just hope he does not need me to unpack everything…."

Leon saw the boys weary eyes begin to fill with tears, and Merlin quickly tried to blink them away and then scrubbed his eyes with a sigh.

The knight frowned and said gently, "What is it Merlin? Is your arm giving you pain?"

"No….Yes….I don't know," said the boy despondently. Then looking into Leon's eyes with fear and despair, he admitted, "Actually, I think it's just everything, Sir Leon. Everything is hurting, and I don't see how I can get all this back to Gaius' without dropping it again. And it's almost the end of the day, and I haven't even STARTED Arthur's chores yet, and the King will be SO angry…. "

Merlin paused and swiped at his eyes again. Leon knew the boy was trying hard to hide his distress, but it was still very evident.

"And I just don't know what to do, or how I can possibly even stay awake to get everything done," he continued sadly, "and I've got such a headache that I can't even think straight anymore.

"And no matter what I do, I'm sure to be too late with the things Arthur needs for the feast, so HE is going to be angry too…." Merlin trailed off before adding almost in a whisper, "and I don't want to be punished again…."

Merlin swallowed and in spite of how hard he tried to fight it, a few tears finally trickled down his cheeks. The knight understood though. The boy was overwhelmed and frightened, and was simply too exhausted at this point to think of any plan to get himself out of the bind he was in.

But Leon had an idea which might help. Only time and Arthur would tell if Merlin would still land in trouble though. "Merlin," he said, "How about I help you bring this to Gaius' quarters. I don't have any duties at this last event, so they will not miss me at the tournament.

"Then, given how late it is, you should just go and pick up the medallions. Never mind the rest. Arthur's cape and sword can be taken care of another day. I doubt anybody will even notice the small blemishes on them tonight, and the stables are already clean."

Merlin scrubbed at his eyes again and then looked at the knight with a faint inkling of hope. "You will help me with all this stuff? I… It's not …. I mean… you are a knight…." he stammered.

Leon chuckled softly and said, "I am aware of that Merlin. But I benefit from Gaius' services on occasion, and would ensure that he is properly equipped."

The knight then became serious, and realized that he owed the servant an apology, since Leon's own unwillingness to speak up for the boy had greatly added to Merlin's situation. Remembering what he had told Ewan, Leon knew it was his duty as a knight to ensure the boy's safety and wellbeing, servant or not, and he felt he had failed in this.

"Merlin," he said softly. "I also saw that Arthur made you stumble earlier and only regret that I was not able to stop him… I am also so sorry that you ended up in the stocks these last times. I knew it was not deserved, but did not feel I could speak out to the King, due to your…..station."

Merlin frowned in confusion, "But why would you, Sir Leon? I admit that I had hoped somebody would speak up for me, just to tell what really happened, but I did not truly expect it. Anyways, I doubt it would have made very much difference…."

Leon was saddened to learn that Merlin did not even expect what was essentially justice from the knight, or any other noble, but the knight simply nodded and said, "Well, let's get you off to Gaius' with all of this. Here, let me take some of these packs so you can at least stand up straight. I don't imagine this is doing your arm or your back very much good."

A small smile made its way onto Merlin's weary face when he realized that Leon really was going to help him. Soon the knight had taken on most of the packs and he and Merlin started back to the castle.

* * *

When they entered the physician's chambers, they could see Gaius at his workbench, busy preparing medications. The old man smiled and put down his equipment when he heard them.

"Sir Leon! Are you ill or hurt, or are you just helping Merlin to carry all of my bottles?"

Leon chuckled and answered as he began to put down his burden, "Well as you can see, I am laden like a packhorse. I saw young Merlin leaving the glass merchant's shop, and it looked like he could use some help, so here I am."

"Well thank you," said Gaius looking at the multitude of packages. "I must admit that I did not expect there to be quite so many."

Then looking over to where his ward was also putting down his bags he asked, "Merlin, did you get everything and pack it up as I taught you?"

"Yes, Gaius, but it took forever! I'm sorry I'm so late with them," answered Merlin, and Leon noticed that the boy did not mention his misadventure with the broken wares.

"Not to worry, my boy," said Gaius. "I'm glad you had Sir Leon to help you or you surely would have dropped something!"

Merlin blushed and said, "I'm glad too, Gaius. For a while I was not sure how I would ever get everything back here."

Then Leon noticed that the boy quickly changed the subject, "Do you need me to unpack this for you? It's because I've got a lot of chores to do for Arthur and I'm really in quite a hurry to get on with them."

"No, no, you can go ahead, Merlin," said the physician, as he began opening and inspecting the bottles, holding each up to the light before placing them down on his workbench in order of size.

Merlin turned to leave, but then Gaius stopped him, "Oh, and Merlin, I meant to tell you; I have decided to stay down in the lower town for a few days, at the Old Fox Inn. There is a minor illness spreading there that I'd like to nip in the bud, but because of my foot I just will not be able to come back and forth like I usually would.

At Merlin's look of dismay, Gaius walked over and put his hands on the boy's shoulders to reassure him. "You'll be all right my boy; it's just for a few days. But it will unfortunately mean that you will be on your own for your meals until I get back. And you will need to stop by the market and buy yourself some supplies, because I haven't had a chance to get anything this week."

Then he added teasingly, "And you'd better make sure you get yourself up in time for work in the mornings."

Merlin gave his mentor a smile that did not reach his eyes and said, "Of course, Gaius. I can take care of myself, don't worry." Then he wished goodbye to his mentor and headed towards the door.

In spite of the boy's words, Leon noticed the look of fear on Merlin's face, and remembered that the boy had no coin left to buy supplies with. Well, the knight intended to ensure that the discussion he was going to have with Arthur would take care of the meal problem, though Leon did not want to say anything to Merlin until things were settled.

Then, as they were walking from the physician's quarters to the main entry of the castle, the knight had a horrible thought: What about today, though? Surely there had been no chance for the boy to eat yet? The roll and sausage that Leon had left for him in the morning had still been on the plate when Merlin had been taken to the stocks, and the boy had been working without stop since he'd been released.

Leon thought anxiously; he did not even have an apple in his pouch this time, as he'd already been to visit his mare and given her the last. Finally he decided that he could purchase something for the boy at the market. Surely one of the food stands would still have something left, even though it was past mid-afternoon by this point. That way Leon could ensure that Merlin would at least have something to see him through to the servants' mealtime. Surely the boy would be permitted to attend that today!

Leon looked at the boy in something like wonder. How could Merlin possibly not be complaining about this? He had not even said a word to Gaius, and surely the kindly old man would have reacted if he'd known. Was it possible that the boy felt that he deserved to starve? That it was somehow his own fault that he was unable to get any time to eat? Leon suspected that was exactly what the problem was. Now that he thought about it, the knight even recalled several times over the last few days when Merlin had been told exactly that.

The knight shook his head in anger; there was something very wrong with a system where a boy was made to work almost three days non-stop and still be told he'd not done enough to merit any food or rest. Leon hoped again that his meeting with Arthur could change things for the better.

When they reached the palace entrance, Leon made his way down the steps and into the courtyard before he noticed that Merlin had stopped at the top of the stairway. The exhausted boy looked down the steps as though they were a mountain, then with sigh and a yawn he started his slow descent.

When he finally reached the bottom step, he looked towards Leon and said, "Thanks for your help, Sir Leon. I really can't tell you how much I appreciate it, along with your advice."

Leon smiled, and answered gently, "It was no problem Merlin. It's like I told Gaius, you looked like you needed some help and I was glad to do it."

Merlin sighed and said, "Well then, I guess I'd better head to the silversmith's now. Will you be going back to watch the rest of the competition?"

Leon answered, "Yes, I believe I will, but I can walk with you as far as the market," as they made their way across the courtyard.

Once they reached the market square, Leon spotted only one food stand that still had a few meat rolls and pieces of fruit left. No doubt the stalls had been busy that day due to all of the spectators going back and forth from the events at the Tournament Grounds.

Merlin had seen the stand too, and Leon saw him look longingly at it as they drew near.

"Hold on a moment, Merlin," said Leon when they were beside the stand, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder briefly, to stop his progress.

The boy's look of confusion turned into one of hope as he watched Leon go to the stand and purchase something.

"Here you go, Merlin," said the knight on his return, handing the boy several pears and rolls. "I did not have any apples with me today, so this will have to do. I know it's not much, but you can eat it on your way to the silversmith."

"Thank you, Sir Leon! I haven't had anything to eat ALL DAY!" said Merlin, biting into a pear hungrily. "But now, I had really better get going so I can be back in time to pour Arthur's bath. I hope you enjoy the competition, and thank you again!"

And with that Merlin turned and began to walk down the roadway leading to the North Gate. Though the boy was still limping, Leon thought his step seemed to be just a little bit lighter than it had been on their walk over to the market.


	7. Chapter 7

Leon arrived at the Tournament Grounds and was surprised to see that the competition was barely under way. Apparently it had been delayed, as the canopy over the royal booth had come loose and had needed some repairs before the armed combat demonstration could start.

This event competition was using a simple elimination formula; the winner of each dual would move to the next round until only one winner was left. Each round was won by a combination of points awarded for style and for the number of hits over a five-minute bout.

The event was somewhat different than was usual for armed combat competitions, as it was intended to encourage the competitors to use finesse and to show off the variety of skills and techniques taught in Camelot, rather than simply to attempt to win at any cost.

Leon found it quite entertaining to watch, though some of the squires got a bit silly with their attempts at over-fancy footwork. The senior knight smiled, and then decided he would need to remind the youngsters, preferably on the training ground the next day, that this was still meant to be a combat event and was NOT in fact a dance contest!

The final result of the competition did not surprise Leon. Arthur had won by a large margin and was in good spirits as he laughed with some of the other young competitors, while collecting up his gear.

As Leon passed by the Prince, on his way back towards the palace, Arthur beckoned him over. "Sir Leon, would you stop by my chambers once we return to the palace? I would like you to collect the medallions and bring them to the Great Hall before the feast.

"I had planned on doing it myself, but since the competition ran late, and I still have to bring my equipment to the armoury, I fear I won't have the time. Father wants them in the Hall before Lord Aelrod arrives.

Leon hoped that Merlin had already returned with the medallions, though he doubted that the boy was back yet. To buy the servant a few extra minutes before he'd be missed, Leon answered, "Yes, certainly, Sire. I must go to my quarters first and dress for the feast, but that will not take very long. I will go to your chambers immediately afterward."

Arthur gave his agreement to this plan and Sir Leon continued on his way to the palace, leaving the Prince to finish up with his equipment.

* * *

Taking as much time as he could in washing and dressing for the feast, Leon finally could delay no longer, and began to make his way towards the Prince's chambers. As he neared the intersection to the corridor which led to the royal suites, he was relieved to see Merlin coming from the other direction. The boy stumbled along, breathing heavily, with two sacks in his arms. Judging from the way he carried them, the sacks were heavy, even though they were not overly large. Leon also noticed that Merlin was, per usual it seemed, balancing them in a way which would minimize the weight he needed to put on his injured arm.

"Hello, Merlin. Are you just getting back with the medallions, then?" asked the knight.

"Yes, Sir Leon," the servant answered, looking up wearily at the knight. "The silversmith made me count everything twice. Then I had to help him to put each medallion inside its own red velvet case and then I had to count it all twice more before he packed everything up."

Then Merlin shook his head in frustration and adjusted the sacks again, gasping in pain as he jostled his sore arm. "I'm so glad to be back at last. These are a lot heavier than they look, or maybe it's just that there are a lot of them."

"Well, Arthur is waiting for you, I expect," said the knight. Then at Merlin's anxious look he added, "He may even still be in the armoury, and if not, he's not been back for long so don't look so worried."

Then the knight added with a reassuring smile, "He told me to meet him at his chambers to see these wonders, so I will walk there with you. Here, let me take one of the sacks before you drop it."

Merlin gratefully let Leon take a sack, and the two continued towards the Prince's chambers.

Once there, Sir Leon knocked at the door, and opened it when Arthur called 'Enter'.

The Prince stood looking out of the window behind his desk, but turned towards Leon and Merlin with a smile as they came into the room.

"Sire," said Leon, smiling back and nodding in greeting. But Merlin said nothing to the Prince. Instead he kept his eyes downcast as if in resignation, and limped over to Arthur's desk, putting down his sack with a wince.

Arthur watched the boy with concern for a moment before saying, "Merlin. I'm glad to see you back at last. Did you get everything, then?"

At that, the boy blanched before looking up at Arthur. Leon could see the fear in his eyes. "Um… Well….no….Actually I… I just had time to get the medallions, Sire," Merlin stammered, before taking a step back away from the Prince.

Leon wondered if they boy expected to be struck, though the knight could not ever recall Arthur hitting his servants before. Still, given how exhausted Merlin was, Leon thought his body may just have been reacting without conscious thought.

Then the boy rushed on almost pleadingly with his explanation, "It's just that…. after I finished getting all of the bottles back to Gaius, I didn't really have time to do all the rest. But, I promise I will do it tomorrow, even though I know it will be too late for the feast." Then hurrying to change the subject Merlin added, "and would you like me to get your bath now, Sire?"

But before Arthur could answer, another knock came at the door, and the King entered without waiting for a response, saying, "Arthur, I had hoped you would still be here. I wish to see the medallions before they are brought to the Great Hall. Do you have them here?"

On hearing the Uther's voice, Merlin, who had been facing away from the door, spun around so quickly that he stumbled, and in his weariness, almost lost his balance. Then, on seeing who had come into the room, he stepped back as if seeking Arthur's protection. Unfortunately, he ended up colliding with the desk and knocking the sack of medallions onto the floor.

Leon would have found the situation funny if he did not know how terrified Merlin was, and unfortunately the dropped bag had brought Uther's full attention onto the servant. As a result, Leon was almost as anxious as the boy.

"Ah yes, the idiot servant," said the King to the trembling boy. "I might have expected this. Disaster seems to follow wherever you go."

"Yes Sire, I'm sorry." whispered Merlin. The boy tried to edge away even further, even though he was already backed right up against the desk.

"Tell me Arthur," said the King glaring at Merlin and then looking over to his son, "did this boy fulfill all of his duties to your satisfaction today? I have promised him a punishment if he failed to do so, and I would not want to break my word."

Leon saw that Merlin began to tremble even harder, and the boy paled so much that the knight feared he might faint.

But Leon inwardly let out a breath of relief when Arthur answered, "Yes, father. He has done everything I asked of him today, and more. In fact he was just about to go and get the water for my bath."

Then turning to his servant, Arthur said, "Merlin, you may go, and be quick bringing back the water, as I don't have very much time to get ready."

Leon was happy that Arthur had found such a subtle way to get Merlin out from under his father's scrutiny.

Merlin also seemed relieved. "Yes, Sire. Right away," whispered the boy. Then Merlin stooped to pick the sack of medallions off the floor. He placed it back on the desk before making an attempt at bowing to the King and then the boy limped as quickly as he could toward the door, and to his escape from Uther's frightening presence.

* * *

Once Merlin had left the room, Leon placed the sack he was still holding onto the desk beside the one Merlin had already put there.

Arthur opened one of the bags, and drew out a red velvet packet from within. Carefully opening it so as not to damage the luxurious cloth, the Prince took the shining medallion in his hand.

Each man took a turn admiring the workmanship. It was indeed an impressive memento, silver, with the Pendragon Dragon stamped into one side and the Cambria Eagle on the other, and inscribed with the date according to both Uther and Aelrod's reigns.

"Yes, this is perfect for the occasion," said Uther. "Arthur, you have made a fine choice in this design."

Arthur flushed at the rare praise from his father and said, "I have ordered one hundred of them, Father. There will be enough for each competitor, as well as for Aelrod and Roran, and for the courtiers who attend the feast."

Uther nodded, and took a last look at the medallion before wrapping it back up in its velvet packet. "One hundred, you say?" asked the King. "Let us count them before they are brought to the Great Hall. If it was your idiot of a manservant who collected these, then I do not trust him to be able to count higher than the number of his fingers!"

Just as Arthur had put the last medallion back in its sack, there was a soft knock at the door, and Merlin stumbled in with a bucket of hot water. He hesitated a moment at seeing that the King was still in the chambers, but then made another frightened attempt at a bow before going over and pouring the water into the bath.

"Boy, has it taken you this long to bring back one bucket of water?" asked the King threateningly, startling Merlin at his task.

Merlin turned around with a frown of confusion, and answered with a small hint of the spirit Leon knew the boy usually had, "Well,..no, Sire….. I didn't want to disturb you in here, and I knew Arthur was in a hurry to bathe, so I found some help to bring back the water. There are plenty of buckets in the kitchens, so we just left them outside the door as we fetched them. I only knocked when I had all fifteen there, ready to be poured."

Even Uther could not find fault with Merlin's methods, though Leon thought with a half-smile, that Merlin's concern was probably more about escaping the King's notice than about disturbing anybody.

Not finding anything more to reprimand Merlin about, Uther turned to his son and said, "Well then, Arthur I shall leave you to your bath."

As the King started towards the door, he turned back and added, "Oh, and Arthur, you will need to be in the Great Hall as soon as you are able, so don't linger here. Lord Aelrod and Roran would like some details about our training program, and I have told them that we could discuss this before the feast. I need you there, and bring your idiot servant to attend us."

The Prince missed the look of dismay bordering on fear that appeared on Merlin's face at this announcement. Leon saw it though, and realized that the King's command meant that the boy would miss the servant's mealtime yet again.

"Yes father," Arthur answered, moving towards the changing screen as Merlin shook his head sadly and poured another bucket. "We won't be too long."

Leon frowned, but since Uther was already looking for fault with Merlin, the knight did not dare to suggest having another servant attend the nobles so that the hungry boy could take his meal. Leon only hoped that the conversation with Arthur the next day would prevent this situation from being so common in the future.

Knowing he could not do anything for the moment, Leon picked up the sacks of medallions and said, "I will leave you to your bath and be on my way with these then, Sire. And unless you object, I will have the Steward place them on the marble table beside the throne, so that the King may present them at the same time as he awards the prizes. Shall I have them laid out, or leave them in the sacks?"

"Good point, Sir Leon," said Arthur from behind the screen. "Please ask the Steward to lay them out so our guests may be suitably impressed."

Leon chuckled at this, but then with a last look of concern over towards Merlin, the knight took his leave.

* * *

Leon dropped off the medallions and gave the instructions to the Steward, and then went to join some of his friends in the Knight's Common Room. Since there was about an hour before the feast was to start, they were able to sit and relax for a little while, and enjoyed the chance to discuss the events of the day and to provide advice, albeit belated, to some of the younger knights who had competed.

One of the older knights even got up to imitate some of the footwork he'd seen at the armed combat event, much to the amusement of all.

Finally, most of the group left the Common Room and headed towards the Great Hall to take their seats for the feast.

Prince Arthur and the King were already at the table, along with Lord Aelrod and Roran, though this was to be expected since the four had arrived early for their discussions about the training program.

As he took his own seat, Leon nodded across in greeting to Ewan and Alfred, who were seated by Arthur and Roran.

The Hall was soon filled with merriment and conversation, along with good food and wine. It was everything a feast of Camelot should be. The Steward had outdone himself, and the food was plentiful: platters of succulent suckling pig and savory peacock were set out at the table, along with large bowls of beets, onions and cabbage, and loaves of fine white bread. And then for dessert there seemed to be a never-ending parade of fruits, cheeses, strawberry tarts and sweet custard in pastry shells.

Finally though, everyone had eaten his fill and the King moved away from the table to sit at his throne where he would be presenting the prizes and the memorial medallions. Leon sat back with a satisfied sigh and wished he had a discreet way to loosen his belt. He could not image anyone going hungry this night.

Then the knight froze, and corrected himself. No, there was at least one young serving boy who must still be very hungry indeed. Leon stopped smiling and looked over towards where Merlin was standing behind Arthur, holding a flagon of wine. The boy looked like he was fighting to stay awake. He was glassy-eyed and seemed barely aware of his surroundings, and even from where Leon sat midway down the other side of the table from Arthur, the knight could make out the servant's trembling hands and the sweat on the boy's brow.

Still, Merlin was doing his best to serve the four young nobles during the presentations of the prizes, but Leon was not at all surprised when the servant completely missed Ewan's large gesture as the squire explained something to Roran. Normally Merlin, though admittedly clumsy, was still quick-witted enough to be aware of what was going on around him, and would have simply shifted his position with a smile, averting any accident.

But tonight the boy was too exhausted to notice the sweeping arm, and was unable to react once he did notice. Unfortunately the result was that Ewan's elbow caught the flagon dead centre, causing it to fly from Merlin's hand and travel in a slow, graceful arc until it landed upside down in Roran's lap.

Roran leapt to his feet with a shout of surprise and then a laugh, while Arthur and Alfred also laughed, and Ewan simply looked apologetic. Arthur turned with a wide smile to the now mortified young servant who was still standing behind him. It looked like the Prince was about to tease or reassure the boy, after all the accident had been mostly Ewan's fault.

Unfortunately though, the King had also noticed the disruption and stood with a murderous look at the servant before gesturing to the guards standing beside the throne to bring the boy before him.

Leon watched as the guards grabbed Merlin roughly by the arms and dragged him forward, finally forcing him to his knees in front of Uther.

The boy hissed in pain, as no doubt the harsh manhandling had aggravated the injuries that he had taken to his arm and his knee. But other than that quiet sound, the boy knelt silently with his head bowed in resignation before the King. Leon realized that the boy was simply too exhausted to fight off what would likely be another unjustified punishment.

Sure enough, Uther began. "What is the meaning of this?" he shouted. "Are you such an idiot that you cannot do any simplest task without making a spectacle of yourself? Or are you just so dimwitted that you do not realize the insult you have just given to our noble guests.

"You've already been punished several times in the last few days for your lack of attention to my son's needs," the King continued in a rage.

At that, Leon saw Arthur's head whip around to look at his father in confused shock. Apparently the Prince had not known about the trips to the stocks, or at least not about all of them.

Meanwhile, Merlin still knelt motionless, though Leon could see tears beginning to appear on the humiliated boy's cheeks.

"And yet you still seem incapable of understanding the honour of being the servant of the Prince, or of granting any semblance of respect to your betters. I will not tolerate this for another minute!" Uther shouted.

"From this point forward, you are stripped of your duties as Prince Arthur's manservant. And as a warning to others about remembering their places and performing their duties with the respect their masters expect from them, you will be taken immediately outside to the flogging post where you will bound for the rest of the night. In the morning you will be administered ten strokes of the lash, after which you will be sent to the dungeons for one week with nothing but bread and water."

Leon heard Arthur gasp in protest at the harsh punishment, and the Prince stood and said, "But father, it was just a bit of spilled wine. Surely this is excessive…"

Uther cut him off though, "Arthur, this wretched excuse for a servant is no longer your concern. I am only sorry that I made you suffer with him for this long." Then Uther gestured again to the guards to take the boy away.

But this time Leon had had enough. The knight doubted that the boy would even be able to survive a punishment this severe, given the weakened state he was in. And for spilling wine? No, Leon could not stand by and allow the injustice this time.

The knight stood and walked up to where Merlin still knelt, then placing a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder, he said loudly and clearly enough for all in the Hall to hear him, "Sire, if you please. I must speak on behalf of the boy."

Then, not wanting to put any type of blame directly on any specific person, Leon said, "I fear that our system has wronged this serving boy to the extent that this unfortunate accident was unavoidable and not of his making."

Uther moved back on his seat with a frown, but nodded for the senior knight to explain himself.

Leon said, "I've had the….yes, I will say so… the good fortune to have watched this boy over the last few days. I've been piecing it together in my mind, Sire, and I believe I can account for virtually every minute of his time. And not one time can I remember when he has not been in active performance of a service, other than for perhaps just those few moments when you happened across him.

The King leaned forward at this, and frowned in perplexity. "Indeed, Sir Leon. And in those few moments he just happened to be asleep in the hallway, or throwing about my son's armour or pouring wine on an honoured guest. These would seem to be rather important exceptions. Why do you feel the need to speak for the boy?"

"Forgive my lack of clarity, Sire," responded Leon more passionately. "When I say 'he was in active performance other than those few moments', what I mean is that his masters – and I mean SEVERAL of them together, have allowed him neither rest, nor sustenance in more than three days, and have seen fit to punish him, often severely, whenever he lagged. Can it be any surprise that this would end in such a mistake?"

Uther leaned back again, and looked first at Arthur for confirmation, and then back at Leon when Arthur looked just as confused as the King was. "How can this be, Sir Leon? Please explain what you mean."

Leon collected his thoughts. He needed to be clear and convincing so not to see Merlin further hurt, but the King seemed to be willing to listen to the knight's findings, so he took a deep breath and began.

"Sire, I will not bore the entire Hall with the details on what should be an evening of celebration. However, I can say that I've observed that the boy's duties as manservant to the Prince do extend into many more domains than those of the other household servants. As a result, he has SEVERAL of our skilled Masters both giving him tasks and then punishing him for failing in them. Also, I have seen firsthand that in order for him to complete a task to the satisfaction of one master he is forced to be late for a duty with the next, again resulting in punishment and also leaving him with no time to eat or to rest in between duties. He has been unable to break this cycle over the three days I have observed him.

"I ask you Sire, though the boy is just a servant, is it not still an injustice for us to expect him to work for three days and nights with no rest or food, only to be punished and told it is still not enough?"

Leon paused to measure the King's reaction to his words, and saw that Uther looked both curious and dismayed.

The knight finished his explanation, saying, "Sire, I am ashamed that I have just spoken up now. I've seen this happening over the last days and have done nothing, and I have come to believe that this is in direct dereliction of my knight's duty to protect the citizens of Camelot. I can also assure you that the boy has done everything to his utmost to carry out his responsibilities. I've seen him show both loyalty and courage worth that of any knight. I implore you to overlook this final mistake. Again, I fear it is we, his supposed betters, who have ultimately been its cause."

Uther looked down for several moments at the boy kneeling before him. Finally he asked Merlin, "Boy, is what Sir Leon says true? Have you not eaten or slept for three days?"

Merlin continued to look at the floor, and for a moment Leon wondered whether the boy would answer his King. But finally, without looking up he whispered, "I ….. I … had bread,..Sire. And…Sir Leon had apples…. And I swear that I tried to do my duties properly, but please…I'm just so…tired …PLEASE don't have me flogged,…." and the boy trailed off.

This did not really answer the King's question, and Leon could see that the boy was now beyond pale and was trembling in fear. The knight also realized that Merlin was most likely either not completely aware of what he had been asked, or else he was just too exhausted to remember the details.

Uther must have realized the same thing, because he did not press Merlin for more information. Instead he turned back to Leon and said, "Sir Leon, I am dismayed to learn of this situation, and do not doubt your word of course. And since it was, as you say, due to an injustice against this boy, I agree that no punishment is merited for his transgression tonight."

Then Uther turned towards Lord Aelrod and said, "Lord Cambria, I have not forgotten that this offence was against your House, and I wish to ensure you feel you have been fairly treated. Do you feel that the servant must be punished for his behaviour?"

Lord Aelrod stood and said assuredly, "No, Uther. On the contrary, I would never have wished such a harsh punishment on this boy for something as trivial as some spilled wine. In fact, before Sir Leon spoke up, I had been on the verge of doing so myself. Perhaps you will permit me to comment?"

Uther nodded his approval and said, "Of course, Aelrod. Your thoughts are welcome," gesturing at the Lord to continue.

Lord Aelrod cleared his throat and then said, "First: Although I have not observed this young servant for as long as did Sir Leon, I can certainly tell you that he was very diligent in his duties on the trip from my borders. I even remarked on it to Sir Leon that the lad had worked without stop for virtually the entire time that I was with them. He showed MUCH responsibility to all of those in our party; far beyond what I would normally expect from a servant, especially such a young one. If, in truth, you have dismissed him from your son's service I will gladly find a place for him in mine. Skills can be learned, but these other qualities, not so easily."

The Lord of Cambria paused, and looked over rather sternly at Arthur before turning back to Uther and continuing, "Second: I also noticed during our journey, that the boy was given nothing to eat, had no shelter, and had little opportunity to sleep in spite of being engaged in many physically taxing activities. As Sir Leon knows, I believed he must be a slave."

Uther glanced over at Leon who nodded. Leon also thought he heard a gasp from Arthur at this revelation.

Lord Aelrod continued to look seriously at Uther and said, "In fact, Uther, in spite of the outstanding training program you have here, I must admit that seeing the boy's treatment was my biggest concern about leaving my son with you. In Cambria, as I have told Sir Leon, we value each citizen regardless of their station. And although Sir Leon assured me that the same was true in Camelot, I was still concerned that perhaps the treatment I had seen given to this young boy was considered acceptable here, and I did not want Roran to learn this attitude and bring it back to Cambria with him."

Uther scowled and looked as if he was about to protest, but Aelrod stayed him with a gesture saying, "However, tonight you have shown me that this treatment of the servant was NOT acceptable to you, Uther, and so I am much reassured. For this reason, I am pleased to tell you that Roran will stay here to be trained as a knight." Then, nodding first to Roran and then to Uther, the Lord of Cambria took his seat.

Uther smiled at this announcement, but then his attention was brought back to Merlin who was still on his knees before the King. Realizing that they had not yet finished dealing with the boy the King said to Aelrod, "Thank you Lord Aelrod. You can be assured that in Camelot we pride ourselves in justice for all, nobles and commoners alike. I do intend to investigate this boy's treatment to ensure it does not happen again."

Then turning to Leon he said, "Sir Leon, you mentioned punishments and admittedly I myself have ordered two in the past few days. But have you observed more, and is it your opinion then that these were overly frequent or harsh?"

The senior knight nodded and answered, "Yes Sire, both. As I've said, the boy has many masters to please, with the result that he cannot properly satisfy any of them. This causes frustration among his overseers and this in turn escalates the severity of the punishments. I have witnessed several beatings and other punishments in just three days, and I have every reason to believe they are usually this harsh and frequent. However, Sire, I also think these serve no purpose, as the boy is already working harder than any of us has a right to expect of him."

The King pursed his lips in thought, and said, "There may also be a case for compensation for the boy in that case. But I would like to see evidence of these punishments and their severity before I make any judgement as to the amount."

Uther looked back over at the miserable boy. Then rising, the King walked towards where Merlin was kneeling, and said in a surprisingly kind voice, "Boy, I will need you to remove your tunic."

But Merlin was beyond understanding, and Leon saw the tears begin in earnest now as the boy shook his head and began to tremble even harder.

"No, please," he whispered.

Leon wondered if maybe Merlin had misunderstood and thought that he was meant to be beaten again, and so he went over and dropped to one knee beside the boy.

"Merlin, did you not understand?" he said softly. "We have spoken on your behalf, and the King knows that there is no fault in you. He just wants to see for himself what pain our own negligence as your masters has caused you."

Leon slowly took hold of the shoulder of the boy's jacket, and when Merlin did not resist, he carefully removed it. Then the knight reached for the hem of the boy's tunic, intending to help him remove that too. But Merlin continued to shake his head, and with a last attempt at defiance the frightened servant reached down to try to hold his shirt in place.

"No, please, Sir Leon," the boy whispered again, meeting Leon's eyes with his own frightened gaze. "I don't want them to …. I don't want him to know how often I need to be punished."

"He was right, and I really am a useless servant. I can't get anything right," Merlin said, dropping his gaze back to the floor but still not letting go of his shirt hem.

Leon was not sure whether 'he' was the King or the Prince, but he did not have time to ponder further because the King had now reached them, saying quietly "Sir Leon, please help him remove his shirt."

Leon reached down and took Merlin's right hand, gently uncurling the fingers he'd fisted in the fabric and forcing the boy to let go of the hem. Merlin then dropped his other hand in resignation, and Leon was able at last to remove the garment.

There were immediate gasps of horror from all over the dining hall as Merlin's back was exposed. Leon managed to hold his own reaction in check, as he did not want to startle the boy, but he was sure he'd heard three identical responses of shock from Arthur and the two squires who had been in the travelling party.

The King also looked surprised and visibly disturbed by the extent of the damage.

Leon was reassured by their surprise, since this proved that none of them had known and simply not cared about the injuries the boy had suffered, many of them as the direct or indirect result of orders given at their commands.

The knight could see almost no visible area of the boy's back, from his hairline to where it disappeared into the waistband of his trousers, that was not crossed and crisscrossed again with a hideous mixture of bruises, welts, and painful looking gashes in all colours from angry red to black to deep purple to green and yellow.

They'd evidently been made by many different methods of punishment and over the course of many days or more likely, weeks. The worst of the newer injuries were several deep and still-oozing welts and gashes. Leon knew that these had been made by the Steward in the crazed and furious use of his belt the previous day, for the imprint of the man's Dragon buckle could be easily identified at those places in the boy's flesh. Worse still was that a few of these open wounds were showing signs of infection, which explained why Leon could feel the heat of fever radiating from Merlin's skin, now that the boy's shirt was off.

But his back was not the only place where Merlin's mistreatment had been made so obvious to everybody in the hall. Also clearly visible were the still raw and reddened marks on the boy's wrists, the result of being shackled into the stocks, and the swollen and deeply bruised elbow where Merlin had been hit by the bandit shield. Elsewhere on the boy's arms Leon could even make out finger-shaped bruises, most likely left by guards who had restrained him less than gently.

And almost the worst were not the marks of physical abuse at all, but were Merlin's ribs. Leon had already learned that the servant frequently went hungry, but this….? This was completely without justification in a city of plenty such as Camelot prided itself. With his shirt off, it could be seen that the boy was thin to the point of emaciation. Leon had seen this type of thing before, when he'd been sent as part of his knight's duties to help starving villages during times of drought or extreme cold. But this was no result of famine; it was due to pure neglect of the boy's basic needs by his supposed betters and protectors, and Leon was disgusted.

The King spent several moments looking closely at the servant's injuries, while Merlin remained motionless before them. Leon suspected that the boy was so caught in his despair that he was no longer even aware of the King or of the room full of silent, watching nobles, and was simply fighting to stay conscious.

After scrutinizing the welts caused by the belt buckle, and frowning when he realized what must have caused them, Uther pointed to where Merlin's elbow was black and swollen and said, "Sir Leon, I can deduce how most of these injuries were caused, but what do you know about this one?"

Leon reached over in order to take hold of the boy's wrist, and then putting his other hand behind the boy's elbow, the knight made to bring the injured arm forward for Uther's inspection.

Merlin reacted to this; he looked up at the knight with his eyes widened in fear, and the boy tried to prevent the movement, whispering, "Ow…. Stop….no. Please Sir Leon… don't… it hurts me…"

Leon tried to calm the boy, saying, "Don't worry Merlin, I will be careful, and I promise to try not to hurt you, but the King wishes to see." The knight continued to gently extend and turn the injured limb just enough to show Uther the extent of the bruising.

Turning back to the King, the knight explained, "Sire, he was struck here by the shield of a bandit. It happened while he was fighting a man who would otherwise have killed Prince Arthur."

Sounds of disbelief could be heard near the front of the Hall, followed by a general murmur, as those who had not heard the knight's explanation firsthand requested it from their neighbours. On hearing the reaction, Leon looked around the table, and saw that Lord Aelrod was nodding his confirmation, whereas Arthur looked surprised and dismayed, and Ewan and Alfred just looked guilty.

Uther also looked surprised at the information and said, "Incredible. Who would ever have thought a serving boy would have that kind of courage, or such loyalty for that matter. But why has Gaius not tended to the injury yet? The boy is his ward after all. This arm looks like it may even be broken."

"That is one of the reasons I have decided to speak for him, Your Majesty. In spite of these acts worthy of a knight, the boy has been working without any break since we have returned from Cambria yesterday. In fact, since long before that. We have given him no opportunity as of yet, even to see to his hurts."

Finally Uther finished his assessment and stood back, saying, "Sir Leon, I have seen enough to know that the treatment this boy has received is unacceptable in Camelot, even though he is but a commoner. I need to understand how it was possible for a servant on the staff of the Royal Household to come to this state of injury and deprivation while in fulfilment of his duties, and I wish to ensure that it does not happen again. I request that you meet me in the Steward's offices directly after breaking your fast tomorrow so we can discuss in more detail about how this has come about."

Then turning to the Prince, Uther said, "Arthur, you are the boy's master and are directly responsible for his well-being while he is in your service. You will join us."

"Yes Sire, gladly," said Arthur, with no trace of argument.

Then returning to the throne, Uther sat and looked back at Merlin, saying, "You may rise, boy, and I think that under the circumstances you may be relieved of your duties for the rest of this evening. Go and get some food and rest, and have your injuries tended."

Leon helped Merlin to put his tunic and jacket back on, then stood and stepped back, letting out a breath of relief. Merlin, however, made no immediate move to rise. He remained kneeling with his head bowed, and Leon wondered if the boy had heard the King.

"Merlin," whispered the knight, "The King has dismissed you. You are free to go to your chambers."

The boy finally looked up at the knight worriedly, and whispered , "I…..I don't think I can stand up, Sir Leon."

The knight moved back towards the boy, and began to help him to rise. But finally, the pain and exhaustion, the fear and the hunger of the last few days became too much for Merlin. The boy had reached his breaking point, and giving a last imploring and fearful look up at Leon, Merlin's eyes rolled back into his head, and the boy went limp in the knight's arms.


	8. Chapter 8

Leon quickly tightened his grip on Merlin, who had suddenly become a dead-weight in his arms, and lowered the boy carefully to the floor.

"Sire, I fear the boy has passed out," said the knight, looking over at the King. "With your leave, I will bring him to Gaius so I may explain everything that has happened to him."

"Yes, I suppose that would be best," said Uther, nodding his approval.

Arthur, Ewan and Alfred had also hurriedly made their way over to Merlin when they had seen him lose consciousness. They helped to lift the boy onto Leon's shoulder, being careful not to jostle his injured arm.

Then, just as Leon was about to take his leave, Arthur said to him, "Wait, Sir Leon."

Turning back to Uther the Prince said, "Father, since Merlin is my manservant, I would also like to accompany Sir Leon."

Uther shook his head and said, "Arthur, I understand your concern, and that you bear some responsibility for this boy's current state, but after all, he IS still just a servant. YOU are the Prince of Camelot, and your duties lie here, in being a host to our honoured neighbours of Cambria. The boy is already being cared for by no less than my senior knight, and this will suffice."

Arthur looked for a moment like he may argue, but then after joining eyes momentarily with Leon, he gave a slight nod to the knight, as if to say 'I leave him in your hands'. The Prince then turned back to the King and said, "I understand, Sire," and began to make his way back to his seat.

Alfred, and Ewan hesitated, obviously not knowing whether they should follow Arthur's lead, but froze in place before the King when they noticed that Uther had fixed a penetrating glare on them.

Seeing that he had their attention, the King slowly sat back and said, "The fact that you two senior squires have come forward with my son tells me that for some reason you are also concerned with this servant's welfare."

When neither young man dared to speak, Uther continued, "And from your guilty looks and the way you are now shuffling your feet like reprimanded children, I am inclined to believe that this is not due to any sense of altruism."

Both squires dropped their eyes to the floor, and made immediate attempts to stop their shuffling.

"So, you will tell me why you felt the need to come forward at seeing the servant's distress," Uther ordered.

The squires looked first at each other, then over at Leon and his burden, then swallowed nervously before looking back up to the King. Ewan started, clearly picking his words carefully, "Well, Sire, I fear that we have….contributed…..to that…..distress."

But Uther said nothing, evidently waiting for more details, so Alfred continued, "Um, I'm afraid we…. caused you to punish him…. unjustly…. Sire."

Uther frowned at this, and then said coldly, "I think you had better explain yourself, squire."

Alfred gulped and also picking his words carefully, said, "It was in the armoury, Sire….. We…..alleged … that the servant was doing his job improperly, when in fact, he had almost finished…. We were the ones ….provoking him … and it was we who caused the armour to be sullied and then to fall…." Alfred dropped his eyes in shame.

Then, before giving the King a chance to comment, Ewan hurried to add, "And Sire, I am ashamed to admit that during our trip to the Cambria border, I saw fit to take Merlin's provisions for my own use. I swear to you that I had no idea that he was so hungry though, Sire, or I would never have done it."

Leon adjusted his hold on Merlin. The boy was still unconscious, and his limp form had slipped a bit on the knight's shoulder. Leon was anxious to get the feverish boy to the physician's chambers, but could not leave until Uther had finished with the squires.

The King glared the two squires for a few moments, then leaned forward and said threateningly, "So let me be certain that I understand this fully. You have lied to your KING, and have abused your authority as nobles and future knights of MY Kingdom, resulting directly in the severe mistreatment of one of MY citizens. The fact that he is a servant has no bearing here."

"Yes Sire," admitted Ewan and Alfred together. Then Ewan added, "Merlin saved both of our lives during the trip to the border, Sire. So I …. we….. knew we needed to admit our part in this."

The King looked over to where Leon still held the servant and said, "It appears that this boy has done his fair share of that."

Then turning back to the squires, Uther said, "Very well. A penalty is warranted for these acts. You will join me at the Steward's office tomorrow morning to explain to me in more detail about your part in this, and also to hear my decision regarding your punishment. For now you will go with Sir Leon and assist him and the physician in any way that they require."

The squires said, "Yes Sire," and went quickly to join Leon, who adjusted his hold on Merlin once more, then bowed his head to the King and left the Hall without further delay.

* * *

Halfway to the physician's quarters, Leon paused, remembering that Gaius had decided to stay in the Lower Town that night. He turned to the squires beside him and said, "One of you will need to go to fetch the physician. He is at staying at the Old Fox tavern in the Lower Town, tonight."

Ewan, who seemed to jump at the chance to do something constructive, immediately volunteered for the errand. "What should I tell him?" the squire asked.

Leon answered, "Tell him that it is Merlin that is in need of his services. Also, be sure to tell him that Merlin collapsed from exhaustion during the feast and that he has some injuries."

The squire nodded his understanding, and then turned and set off at a trot towards the palace entrance.

* * *

On reaching the physician's chambers, Leon and Alfred brought Merlin over to the patient bed, and laid him down on his side, being careful not to put any extra pressure on either his back or on his injured arm. Then Leon covered the boy gently with a blanket.

With little more they could do, the two nobles stood back and watched over the servant apprehensively, waiting for the physician to return.

Merlin did not wake, but occasionally he shifted or grimaced and made soft murmurs of pain as he slept on. Each small sound caused Leon to shake his head, and increased his feelings of guilt for being unwilling to stand up properly for the boy until he had already reached the point of collapse.

After what felt to Leon like a long while, though it was probably less than half an hour, Gaius entered, looking dismayed and limping ahead of Ewan as quickly as he could. He immediately headed over to where Merlin lay.

To Leon's surprise, Arthur also followed the pair into the chambers, and gave Leon a sheepish nod. Leon wished he could ask the Prince how he had convinced the King to let him leave the feast, but that would need to wait. For now the knight needed to concentrate on ensuring that Gaius had the information he needed to treat Merlin.

"He collapsed during the feast, Gaius," said Leon to the physician, "From exhaustion I think."

"Yes, so Ewan has told me", said Gaius. "What else?"

"He has some injuries too," admitted Leon sadly, "and I think he is also running a fever."

Gaius looked up sharply at this, then reached out to put a gnarled hand gently but firmly on Merlin's forehead.

"Yes he is, Sir Leon," Gaius confirmed, "And it is a high one, though not dangerously so, … at least not yet."

Leon's feelings of guilt rose even higher, but he did not have time to dwell on them because Gaius wanted more information.

"Now tell me how this has happened," ordered the physician, as he continued to examine the boy. "The last I saw of Merlin he did seem to be very tired and I noticed the bruising on his face, but he never said anything about any other injuries or about feeling ill."

Leon watched as Gaius tended to Merlin and answered softly and with his guilt colouring his voice, "Well he has injuries to his arm and to his knee that he received during our trip to meet Lord Aelrod. He told me he didn't think he had broken anything but I have definitely seen him favouring them."

At this Arthur turned and stared at Leon, confirming to the knight that the Prince had been oblivious about his servant's suffering.

"And he spent a fair amount of time in the cold water of the river….and then… well… he never really got a chance to dry off or warm up for a long while afterwards," Leon added apologetically. "And you recall that it was rather cold and rainy those days we were away."

"As to the other injuries: I learned that he is frequently punished for failing in his duties, and I personally saw him beaten several times for it," the knight continued.

Then seeing the angry glare that Gaius directed at Arthur, Leon quickly added, "No, not by Arthur, Gaius. It was some of the castle's Masters. And they seemed to get rather...carried away..."

"I don't know how long that's been going on," continued the knight, "but for some time I'd say, judging by the state of his back." Then, breaking his gaze away from Merlin and looking directly at the physician, Leon asked, "Did you know about it, Gaius?"

Gaius, whose expression had become grimmer as Leon recounted what he knew, stopped his ministrations for a moment to look back at the knight and said, "No, he didn't say anything to me, though I certainly wish he had. Perhaps he was embarrassed, or it's even more likely he believed that he deserved it, and was afraid that I would agree. That is not uncommon in cases when someone is abused by those with authority over them, I'm afraid."

Then Gaius returned to his examination and said, "We will need to get his clothes off of him so I can begin treating him," and he started to carefully remove Merlin's jacket.

Leon moved to help and hesitantly admitted, "Um…And also, ….Gaius, he really has not had any sleep or anything substantial to eat for almost three days now. It might even have been longer, but I was only in a position to observe during that time."

Gaius stopped what he was doing, obviously startled by this news. "Three days,…!" muttered the physician. Then glaring at the four guilt-ridden nobles, he snapped angrily, "Well perhaps you men should get back to your FEAST so I can take care of my patient."

Leon judged this to be a well-deserved reprimand. Gaius knew full well that Merlin had been attending them for all of those days, so if he had not had food or rest, then they were clearly to blame.

"Gaius, I would prefer to stay and help," spoke up Ewan, somewhat to Leon's surprise. "I know I had a hand in getting him to this state, and I would do whatever I can to fix it."

At that the other nobles nodded their agreement, and Arthur said guiltily, "Gaius, I swear I had no idea about what was going on or I never would have ..." and he trailed off without finishing the sentence, merely gesturing to the unconscious boy.

Gaius looked at them grimly and finally nodded. "Very well, but I am the master here and you will need to do EXACTLY what I say. If you feel it BENEATH you then you may leave NOW!"

When nobody moved, Gaius began giving orders in a style that even Leon and Arthur as commanding officers in their own rights would have been hard pressed to emulate. "First: I need somebody… YOU, EWAN,.. get me some cold water directly from the well so we can bring his fever down," he began.

Then, with Ewan headed towards the door at a run, he turned his glare on Alfred, "And YOU will go and fetch some wood and build up the fire. I've run low on it in my chambers, since both Merlin and I have been busy with other duties. Once that is done then put some water on to heat, so I will have some warmed to clean my patient's wounds."

Last the physician turned to regard Arthur and Leon, saying, "And, one of you, I don't care who, must go IMMEDIATELY to the kitchens and get this boy SOME FOOD. Make sure it is mostly liquid since we may not be able to rouse him to eat it for himself. Thickened stock or light stew is what we need, easy to swallow but still substantial.

At that, Arthur quickly made his way to the door, without even stopping to consult Leon. The knight almost had to hide a smile as no doubt the Prince was eager to escape Gaius' wrath.

Then on seeing that Leon was the only one left to him, Gaius said, "And Sir Leon, please help me set out the bandages, and also to prepare the medications that I will need to help Merlin fight his pain and the infection causing his fever."

"Yes, Gaius," answered Leon obediently, not unlike how he would have answered his masters back when newly made a squire. Then, spotting the bandaging strips on one of the shelves above Gaius' workbench, Leon decided this would be a good place to start. He took down the supply while Gaius went over to another shelf and began to pull down some bottles.

Once the supplies were prepared, Gaius went back over to check on Merlin. Leon watched as the physician tenderly placed a gnarled hand on his ward's sweating forehead. He saw how Merlin stirred slightly, nuzzling into the touch in his sleep, as if seeking comfort. Leon was surprised when he felt a sudden protective feeling for the boy, and vowed not to let him, or any other mistreated servant for that matter, down again.

Gaius frowned at the fever though, and said, "I do wish that Ewan would hurry and get back with that water. I need to try to lower Merlin's temperature, so that we may try to rouse him to eat before I treat his injuries."

Leon's brow furrowed in confusion and he asked, "Why do you want to do all of that BEFORE you treat him, Gaius? I would have thought you would take care of his injuries first."

The physician answered, "Normally, you would be right, Sir Leon. But in Merlin's case, he badly needs some nourishment so that he will have the energy to heal. It will be much easier to get it into him if he is conscious, but I doubt that we will be able to wake him while his fever is so high."

Leon nodded that he understood, so Gaius continued, "And I cannot treat his injuries without first administering medication for the pain, but since this will make him sleep for a long while, we must ensure that he eats beforehand."

Leon again nodded his understanding just as Ewan finally entered the chambers with two buckets of cold water, and with Alfred right behind him carrying a large load of firewood.

"Put that one down right here, Ewan," said Gaius pointing to the table beside the patient bed. Once Ewan placed the bucket down as ordered, the physician immediately took a cloth and dipped it into the cool water, and then squeezed it out before laying it on Merlin's forehead. Then without looking up from his ward, the physician said, "And Alfred, put that pot of water on the fire once you've got it built up. I will need it before too much longer."

Then after pulling the blanket that had been covering the boy down, in order to expose his bared torso, Gaius took another cool dampened cloth, and began to sponge it gently over Merlin's chest, arms and back, being careful to avoid the open wounds.

When Merlin made a soft gasp in his sleep, and began to shift slightly, as though to avoid the chilled cloth, Gaius said, "Sir Leon, please hold him steady while I do this. It will hurt him if he rolls over onto his back before I get the chance to bandage it."

Leon moved to help hold Merlin on his side, and could hear the physician say softly to his ward, "Hush, my boy. This will help you feel better soon enough," though the knight did not think Merlin could even hear the words.

Once Gaius had finished, he allowed Leon to relinquish his hold, and then the physician pulled the blanket back up so it was covering Merlin again. Leon thought the boy already looked a little bit less flushed than he had a few minutes earlier, so guessed that the cooled water must be doing its job.

"Oh, Sir Leon, while we wait for Arthur, could you please go up into Merlin's room and find his nightshirt?" asked the physician. "I want to put it on him after I finish treating his injuries."

Leon was only too happy to do this for the boy. "Of course, Gaius," he answered readily. "Where does he keep his shirts?"

"They will be in wardrobe I believe, though knowing Merlin, the floor is just as likely," came the answer.

As Leon stepped into the chamber he was struck by how small and well-worn it was; obviously a converted storeroom or something. No noble would ever have accepted such accommodation, and Leon was forced again to acknowledge the gap between their stations.

He looked around the room and saw a soiled shirt on the floor, evidently the one Merlin had worn in the stocks before their trip to Cambria. Not seeing the nightshirt on the floor, he opened the wardrobe and immediately found the garment. It was the only shirt in the cupboard, folded up beside a pair of worn trousers, and a couple of pairs each of smallclothes and socks.

Taking the shirt, he went back down the stairs, and asked, "Gaius, does he only have two tunics? I didn't see anything other than the nightshirt in his wardrobe."

Gaius looked up for a moment as though surprised by the question, and said, "I believe he has three. His other one is probably still packed up with whatever he brought for travelling. I doubt he's had any chance to put it away yet. Why do you ask?"

"No real reason," admitted Leon. "I was just surprised at how little clothing he has in his room."

Gaius gave a humourless chuckle, "Well, he is from a very poor village, Sir Leon. He certainly did not bring very much with him to Camelot. And even though he is working now, it would still take him several months to save up enough coin for a new shirt."

Ewan gave a gasp of surprise and dismay at this, and then Leon saw the squire narrow his eyes in determination. The knight suspected that Merlin would be in possession of a new shirt much sooner than that!

Neither of them had time to tell Gaius about what had become of Merlin's third shirt though, because at last Arthur arrived carrying a tray with several dishes on it.

"Gaius, they had both soup and stew, so I just told the cook to give me some of each. I hope these are what you wanted," said Arthur, looking uncharacteristically unsure of himself as he put the tray down on the table beside the patient bed.

"Yes, this is fine, Arthur," said Gaius, "and you've come just in time, as I think Merlin's fever is down enough that we might try to rouse him. First though, go and get a spoon from my counter by the table over there. We can't very well pour the soup down his throat directly from the bowl."

Leon chuckled at that, glad that Gaius seemed to have some of his sense of humour back, though he thought that Arthur had not caught the joke, judging by how quickly the Prince had moved to do Gaius' bidding.

Once Arthur returned with the spoon, Gaius sat down beside Merlin again, and patting the boy's cheek gently, said, "Merlin, can you open your eyes for me? It's time for you to eat something."

When that didn't rouse him, Gaius tried again, this time lightly shaking the boy's shoulder, "Merlin. Come on my boy, it's time for your dinner."

Finally, Merlin shook his head slightly in his sleep, and scrunched his eyes tightly closed, before opening them just a crack. "Gaius?" came an almost unintelligible sound, followed by a forlorn "Where'm I?"

"You are home, my boy," answered Gaius, "You've been taken ill and collapsed at the banquet. And now I need you to try to sit up and eat something. Can you do that for me?"

"Eat?" said Merlin, his muddled mind apparently not understanding. "Can't eat 'til I get Artr's sword fixed. King said so. Or sleep."

On hearing this Arthur gave Leon a pained look, and moved over beside his servant's bedside.

"It's okay, Merlin," said the Prince. "The King said that now you should eat. The sword is fine."

"King said?" asked Merlin hesitantly, blinking his eyes in confusion, and obviously still not believing it.

"Yes," answered Arthur, "And now he told me that he wants you to sit up and eat. I will even help you, okay?"

Arthur placed a hand under Merlin's shoulder and helped him to turn, so that he finally sat at the edge of the bed with his feet on the floor. Meanwhile, Gaius picked up the bowl of soup and then held the spoon out to Merlin, saying, "Here, my boy. Can you do it yourself?"

But Merlin did not take the spoon right away. When the blanket had slipped down as Merlin had sat up, the boy had noticed that he was shirtless, and with his mind still muddled and confused, he looked over at Leon and said in a worried whisper, "Did they need more bandages, Sir Leon?"

Leon saw Ewan redden with shame, and when Gaius looked at the knight for an explanation, Leon was forced to admit, "His spare shirt got used for bandages during the trip to the border."

Then, picking Merlin's tunic up from where it was laid on the floor near the patient bed, Leon held it so Merlin could see it, and said, "No Merlin, your shirt is fine. See? It is right here. Now, let's eat some of this soup, shall we?"

At last, Merlin noticed the bowl of soup and reached out a shaking hand to take the spoon from Gaius. "This is for me?" he asked, as though still not believing his luck.

"Yes, my boy," answered Gaius. "Now just take a spoonful at time."

The four nobles and the physician watched with relief as Merlin finally began to eat his soup from the bowl Gaius continued to hold.

When he was a little more than halfway through it, the boy's energy flagged. Merlin's eyelids drooped, and the his head began to nod in weariness.

"Sorry, Gaius," whispered Merlin, "I'm too tired, and I don't think I can eat any more."

"That's fine, my boy," answered the physician taking the bowl and spoon from Merlin's hands, and nodding as though he had expected this. "Just sit there for a few moments longer while I get some medication for you. After you take it, you can lie back down and go to sleep, okay?"

Without waiting for Merlin's answer, Gaius handed the bowl and spoon to Arthur, and said to Leon, "Could you get me those two small bottles on my workbench? It's the ones nearest to the edge that I need."

Then, once Leon put the bottles in his hand, Gaius handed one to Merlin, saying "Here you go. Take this. I need you to drink it all, and no fussing."

Merlin looked at the bottle for a moment before putting it to his lips and drinking it down with a grimace. Then Gaius put the second bottle in the boy's shaking hand and helped Merlin raise this one to his lips too.

"There we go, now just this last one, Merlin," urged the physician.

Merlin looked up at Gaius with trusting eyes before he drank down this dose too.

Then Gaius took the empty bottle from his ward and said gently, "Now let's get you back lying down, so I can finish treating you, shall we?" before taking the boy by the shoulders and beginning to push him back down on the bed.

Leon moved forward and stooped to bring Merlin's legs up onto the bed and soon they had the boy lying securely on his side once again, with the blanket covering him to his hips.

Gaius took the drying cloth and dipped in into the cool water before once more laying it on Merlin's brow. Then the physician looked at the four nobles still standing by the bed and said, "Thank you for helping me, but I don't need all of you while I finish treating him. In any case, will Uther not be displeased if he finds out you have been here tending to a servant, while there is an important state visit in progress?"

Leon answered, "I may stay, Gaius. The King himself has expressly asked me to help you, given the circumstances surrounding how Merlin came to be in this state."

Then turning towards the squires, the knight said, "Ewan and Alfred, you are dismissed, and I recommend that you go to your quarters and prepare yourselves to answer any questions the King may have for you in the morning."

The young men looked vaguely ill at being reminded about the impending meeting, and nodded to Leon and Arthur before hurrying out of the room.

Lastly, Leon said to Arthur, "Sire, I admit I am curious to know how you managed to find yourself here. If I am not mistaken, didn't the King order you to stay and entertain the Cambrians?"

Arthur looked somewhat guilty when he said, "Well, yes…You are not mistaken, Leon. But I think Roran knew that I was concer...uh...distracted when Merlin fainted like a girl, so he told his father that he was fatigued from the day's events, and asked to be dismissed. Naturally, being a good host I volunteered to accompany him back to his chambers. But you are right, Leon, I've been away long enough, so I had better return to the banquet."

Then with a last look of what was definitely concern at his servant, Arthur also made his way out of the chambers.

Leon shared an amused look with Gaius as they watched the Prince leave, neither one of them being fooled in the least. The look of amusement deepened when Merlin, eyes barely open, whispered, "Di'n't ...faint... collapsed ... Gaius said ...he knows…s'a physician….prat..."

But then Gaius became serious again and said to the boy, "Okay Merlin. I need to clean the wounds on your back now. Then I will put some salve on them and bandage you up.

"K," came the soft, sleepy answer as Gaius dipped a fresh cloth in the warmed water and began to gently dab at the gashes on the boy's back.

From time to time Merlin made soft pained sounds against the contact, and Leon hoped that the pain-killing potion would soon put the boy to sleep. For some reason, Merlin seemed to want to fight it though, and stubbornly the boy's eyes stayed open just a crack, even while his hands clasped the blanket with increasingly white-knuckled fists.

Finally Gaius said with a touch of exasperation, "Merlin, please just let yourself sleep. The Gods know you need it, and there is no benefit for you in trying to stay awake."

"Can't, Gaius," whispered the boy. "Headache," he admitted, scrunching his eyes closed against the pain.

Gaius stopped his ministrations, and said ruefully, "Oh, my boy. Of course you have a headache. I should have guessed as much and taken care of that earlier."

Then turning to Leon, Gaius asked, "Could you help me raise him up a little bit so we can get another dose of medication into him?"

Leon bent down, and put his arms under Merlin's shoulder, lifting the boy back to a half-seated position, while Gaius went back over to his stores and pulled out a blue bottle.

"Here, Merlin. Open up and then just swallow, all right?" said Gaius when he got back to the boy's side. Then clasping Merlin's chin, he tipped the liquid into the boy's mouth.

Merlin swallowed, without even bothering to open his eyes or to let go of the blanket, and then Leon gently helped the boy to lie back down.

Gaius waited for a few moments while the potion took effect, and Leon was relieved when at last Merlin's grip loosened until his hand went slack where it had been clenching the blanket, and finally dropped slowly back to the bed.

"Well that's better," Gaius said with a fond smile, mostly to himself, though Leon had to agree, and with Merlin now deeply asleep, Gaius was able to finish tending him quite quickly.

First the physician applied honey to the worst of the wounds on the boy's back, and smeared a healing salve over the other bruises and welts. Then, after applying bandages, he and Leon gently rolled Merlin so that he was lying on his back, and Gaius placed a freshly cooled cloth on his brow.

Next, Gaius tended to the boy's wrists. Picking up one lax hand, he turned it so that he could apply salve to the badly chafed and bruised areas. Then he loosely bandaged the wrist, and giving the boy's hand a fond pat, he gently laid it back on the bed. The physician then moved around to the other side of the patient bed and repeated the procedure on the other wrist.

With Merlin's wrists taken care of, Gaius straightened and stood back with a frown, studying the boy's injured arm for a moment.

"What's the matter?" asked Leon, startling the old man.

"Oh, I'd almost forgotten you were there, Sir Leon," admitted the physician. "You are certainly a much quieter assistant than Merlin is!"

Leon smiled at this, and could easily imagine the boy chattering on, while grinding herbs or whatever it was he'd said he did for Gaius.

"I'm trying to decide what to do about this," the physician said, pointing at Merlin's elbow. "From what I could feel when I examined his arm earlier, I don't think it is broken. However, it's so swollen that it is difficult to be sure, though most likely this is simply because he had to keep using it for so long after he was injured."

Leon could not help hearing the note of reprimand in the physician's voice at this.

"I think it will be best if I go ahead and immobilize it, just in case," Gaius concluded, "then tomorrow I will take another look."

With his decision made, Gaius asked Leon to bring over the longest strips of bandaging he could find, and then began to wrap the boy's arm tightly.

Still deep in sleep, Merlin made a gasping whimper of pain and tossed his head slowly, shifting slightly in protest when Gaius began to move his arm.

The physician hushed the boy by rubbing gently on his shoulder. In a moment Merlin relaxed and stilled again, allowing Gaius to finish binding the injured limb and then to strap it securely across his body in a sling. Then Leon helped to pull Merlin's nightshirt on over his head, being careful not to disturb any of the bandages on his back, and leaving the boy's bound arm out of its sleeve.

The only thing left to take care of now, was Merlin's knee, so Gaius removed the blanket from his patient, so he could wrap the injured joint. That done, he gently repositioned the boy's leg so his knee rested on a pillow to raise it. He then replaced the cloth that had been on the Merlin's fevered brow with a fresh cool one and covered the shivering boy up with the blanket.

At last Gaius sighed and stood back. "Well, that's about all we can do for him tonight, Sir Leon," said the physician. "He should sleep through to morning, and that's the best thing for him right now."

"I will take my leave of you then," answered the knight. "And Gaius, you should know that Uther has convened a meeting with the Castle Steward tomorrow morning, as he would like to know how it came about that Merlin ended up in this state while going about his duties for the Royal Household."

"Is that so?" asked Gaius. "Well, I look forward to hearing what the conclusion to that meeting is. I certainly hope we can avoid a recurrence!"

"As do I," said Leon, and then with a last look at Merlin, the knight left and headed towards his own chambers.


	9. Chapter 9

The morning came all too soon for Leon. He had tossed and turned all night, partly due to his feelings of guilt, and partly due to an equal measure of anticipation. Although he knew it was unlikely that mistreatment of servants by their masters would suddenly stop because of the meeting Uther had called, he still hoped they would at least set in place some solid changes that would better ensure their wellbeing.

As the light started to show in the crack between his heavy curtains and the wall by his windows, Leon finally gave up any hope of being able to fall back asleep. The knight rose and dressed, and deciding not to eat in the dining hall, he called for a breakfast to be brought to him. He ate slowly, knowing that it was still a little bit early for the Steward to be in his office as of yet.

When a chambermaid finally knocked at the door and came in to open the curtains and extinguish the candles, Leon judged that the day-to-day operation of the castle was well underway, which meant that it was time to face the Steward.

* * *

Leon arrived at the administrative wing of the castle just as Arthur got there, and on arriving at the Steward's office, they entered the room together.

"Prince Arthur, Sir Leon!" exclaimed the Steward, standing up from where he'd been sitting at his desk. "What may I do for you this morning?" Then frowning as though in distaste he said, "Has your manservant been wreaking his usual havoc already, Sire?"

But before Arthur could answer, the Steward continued, looking over towards the door, "Actually, I was expecting him to be here by now so that I could deal with his negligence of the duties you set him yesterday, but I guess it was too much to expect that he would be on time for once…."

Then, not seeing any sign of Merlin, the Steward turned back to the Prince and said, "I'm sure you will be happy to know that I had already intended to discipline him for that negligence, and now also for being late, so if he has done something else wrong this morning, I can simply punish him for that at the same time if you'd like. Mind you, it seems that I have to discipline the boy so often that I doubt it will act as a much of a deterrent. I think that I will soon need some stronger measures to use with him."

Leon saw that Arthur had become flushed with anger, although likely the Steward thought it was directed at the manservant. It was apparent that the Steward had some sort of personal aversion to Merlin, and Leon had been right that it led to frequent punishment. Having already seen first-hand the beating Merlin had been given two days earlier, Leon hated to imagine what 'stronger measures' the Steward could possibly have in mind.

The knight decided right then that he did not just want some changes in procedures to come out of the day's meeting; he also dearly wanted this buffoon of a Steward put in his place. Seeing Arthur's barely concealed anger, he knew the Prince felt the same.

Glancing at the heavily laden breakfast tray, Leon knew how he could get at least a little bit of immediate satisfaction and said, "Yes, we have come about Merlin, but we do not want to interrupt your breakfast. Although….Master Steward, I was under the impression that mealtime for the Castle Staff was BEFORE that of the nobles in residence here, with no exceptions. How is it that you were able to take a tray this late?"

"Ah yes", said the Steward, then with a wink added, "One of the privileges of rank I suppose. But again, you must realize that I am a busy man and the nature of my duties sometimes makes it impossible for me to take my meal at the allotted time. And I must eat, must I not?"

Leon nodded his agreement and said, "Yes of course, so must we all."

Encouraged, the Steward decided to elaborate on his tale, "Why just this morning, TWO pots in the kitchen were found to have holes, and the keeper of the keys to the storeroom was busy at the other side of the castle, so I had to go and fetch the replacements myself."

"That errand would have left me only a HALF-HOUR of the staff mealtime," he continued, looking between Arthur and Leon to be sure that the listening nobles understood the gravity of the situation. "And as you can surely appreciate, that is NOT conducive to a proper digestion. So naturally I decided that I must take just a small portion during the mealtime, and to set aside my main portion for later, when I have time to eat it."

"I see," said Arthur with a hint of a smirk. Leon smiled to himself as already the Steward was providing his own arguments in favour of one of the rule changes that the knight was hoping to see.

Arthur had obviously noticed it too, and in a seemingly innocent manner asked for a clarification, "So, you seem to be saying that if a person's duties conflict with the set mealtimes, then he should be able to take his meals later."

But the Steward finally seemed to sense that he was being either set up or reprimanded, so he hurried to defend the set mealtime rule, "Well yes, but of course we must be very careful to justify and control these deviations, else we will have chaos in the kitchens, and that would be to the detriment of your own enjoyment of your meals, Sire."

Leon and Arthur nodded in apparent agreement, but did not have time to push the argument any further, because just then the King arrived, followed by the nervous-looking squires, Ewan and Alfred.

"Sire," said the Steward jumping to his feet in surprise, "What can I do for you? Surely you are not also here about something as insignificant as the Prince's manservant?"

Uther fixed the man with a glare and said, "For one servant, no. But it has come to my attention, in front of the Lord of Cambria no less, that this boy has been mistreated, and that this mistreatment has been justified by the rules set for the Royal Household."

"This is MY household," emphasized the King, "And I do NOT condone the abuse of my people, whether intentional or not, and regardless of their station."

Then Uther dropped his voice and said with a hint of a threat, "And as YOU are the master of the rules that govern this household, I wish simply to review them with you now, so that we may make any adjustments we deem necessary to ensure this does not happen to ANY of my people in future."

"Yes of course, my Lord," answered the Steward nervously, moving out from behind his desk and gesturing at everyone to move toward an ornate table by the window of his large office. "You know that I ALWAYS strive to ensure that your serving staff is treated with a high standard. After all, a happy servant will be anxious to please, much like a fine hunting hound."

Leon and Arthur shared a look of incredulity at this analogy.

Uther sat down in a large upholstered chair at the head of the table and said coldly, "Then since this servant was decidedly NOT happy, I take it that you will be as anxious as I to look at this standard you purport to uphold."

The Steward gulped, and said "Yes, I…..welcome the….opportunity, Sire," as Uther gestured at everyone to take a seat.

Then beginning to prepare his defence, the Steward said, "But you mentioned mistreatment, Sire. And I must insist that the rules I have set ensure that all of the servants are treated EQUALLY and thus fairly. And so if this boy has dared to complain to you or the Prince about some supposed mistreatment, well, Sire, EVERYONE knows this boy is lazy."

Arthur frowned and looked like he wanted to interject, but he did not get the chance.

The Steward continued his argument by stating what, to him, was obvious, "After all, Sire this boy IS just a peasant from some outlying farming village. Who knows what types of falsehoods he may tell, to try to avoid his duties? No doubt he is simply unwilling to do a proper day's work, and thinks he can use his position as the Prince's manservant to lighten his duties compared to my other servants."

Leon shook his head in dismay, and then was troubled to recall that just three days earlier he had said something almost identical to himself as he had watched Merlin being taken away for an unjustified punishment.

The knight had no time to dwell further on it though, because the Steward was concluding his argument. "Sire," he said, in a reasonable tone, "I suggest it might be more fitting to accept that it is not my rules that are the problem, and instead to dismiss the boy for his lies and his laziness, and allow Arthur to take on a more suitable candidate."

But Uther had had enough of the Steward's denials and cried, "Silence!" Then leaning forward, the King said, "As it was I who gave the boy his position, are you also then suggesting that I am a poor judge of suitability?"

The Steward gulped, and answered shakily, "No, Sire. Of course not."

"You also seem to be under the misconception that it was the boy who has made the complaint," continued the King, "But he has complained of nothing and has had no chance to tell any lies. What he DID do was collapse in my Hall last night as a result of injury, hunger and exhaustion. Injury, hunger and exhaustion brought about through compliance with the rules governing his duties. Rules and duties which, by and large, you oversee, Steward."

The Steward, apparently still doubted the King's conclusions though, because he tried once again to deny any mistreatment. "But Sire, these lads from the country can be wily and devious. Is it not possible that he misrepresented the state of his health to you?"

Uther rose to his feet, becoming frustrated with the man, "Steward, I myself have seen the results of this mistreatment, as have most of the members of the court along with our visiting Lord Aelrod, who was MOST displeased. And Sir Leon has observed first-hand the development of this boy's state of hunger and exhaustion, so I would ask him now to explain what he has seen. Unless you think he will also misrepresent his findings?"

The Steward looked uncertainly at the knight, but before Leon could begin to speak, the Steward asked hesitantly, "… Unless... Is this about the punishment I administered in the Great Hall, Sir Leon?"

Assuming so, the Steward then nodded slightly to himself, and without waiting for Leon to confirm or deny it, said, "Yes, I must admit that it was somewhat more … forceful … than it should have been." Then turning back to the King he said, "But Sire, I have dealt the boy worse than that on any number of occasions, and he has never yet seen fit to collapse from it."

Leon saw Arthur's eyes widen at what the Steward had just admitted, and the Steward himself shut his mouth with a pop, as he also realized that he had just incriminated himself.

The man obviously knew that anything else he could add would likely just make things worse, so he finally gulped again, then concluded quickly, "But, regardless. I will of course be happy to listen to what Sir Leon has to say on the matter."

"Yes, you had better be," answered the King, taking his seat again, and gesturing at Leon to begin.

Leon collected his thoughts for a moment. Although he was angered by the Steward's admission of abuse, the knight also knew he needed to be careful not to antagonize the only man who could improve Merlin's situation. He tried to tell himself that the Steward's dislike of the servant was probably not due to the boy himself. Most likely the man was simply frustrated by the disruption that had been caused to his routine when the untrained peasant boy had suddenly been thrust into such a high profile position as the Prince's own manservant.

Keeping that in mind, Leon took a deep breath and began. "Sire, I believe that a large part of the problem is that Merlin's background, and the duties that are asked of him by the Prince, seem to be outside of what is normal for other household servants, and it is my impression that the good Steward may be unaware of the nature of these duties."

The Steward looked doubtful about the idea that he would not be aware of what was being requested of one of his staff, but did not protest, so Leon continued, "And I am also certain that the Steward is correct that his rules are not the problem – in MOST cases."

This partly mollified the Steward, though he still looked somewhat worried about what Leon might say next.

The knight did not leave him waiting though, and said, "However Sire, I am sure that once he hears the details about Merlin's specific case, he will easily be able to judge which rules are causing the problem. Then he will easily be able to make any adjustments necessary not just for Merlin, but also for any other servants who may have similar difficulties."

Uther nodded for Leon to continue, and the knight was pleased to see that the Steward now looked interested rather than worried. The knight suspected that the man was attracted by the idea of creating some new standards and rules, since that was what kept him in control.

"I believe we need to look at four areas, Sire," Leon continued.

"The first area is the matter of compensation. I admit this is the area I am least certain of, since I do not typically inform myself about pay scales for the serving staff."

Then, turning to the Steward he said, "Merlin told me that he earns thirty silver coins in a month. But that seemed very low to me. Tell me, Steward, is that the usual wage for the manservant of a high-ranking noble?"

Leon noticed that Uther looked concerned and Arthur almost outraged once he had named the pay rate, and so was reassured that he was not the only one to find it low.

The Steward cleared his throat, and his look of guilt told Leon that the man was fully aware that the wage was inappropriate. Still the Steward had an explanation ready. "Well, Sir Leon, that wage IS the standard rate for a servant with no previous skills or training, so I judged it a suitable starting point for the boy. He will naturally receive more as he gains experience."

Then, confident that he had made his point, the Steward smiled glibly and sat back in his seat.

But surprisingly, it was Uther who now spoke for the manservant. "Yes, Steward, I can see how you may have thought that appropriate. However, if I am not mistaken, most servants in that category are children of around 5 or 6 years old, as that is when they start their training. Such youngsters are still living at home and have very little need for coin, being fed, clothed and entertained by their parents and having no real responsibilities in their homes. In addition I believe they work no more than two or three hours per day, and no more than two or three days in a week. As such, the wage is more to acknowledge their positions in the Royal Household than to provide any actual benefit."

The Steward looked like he wanted to say something, but Uther held up a hand to silence him. "That is hardly the case with my son's manservant," the King continued, "This boy needs to pay the Court Physician for his room and board, and probably sends money home to his village."

Then looking at Leon, the King said, "Also, he works long hours every day. Too many I believe, but Sir Leon will no doubt explain that presently."

At Leon's nod, the King said, "No, paying him the starting wage seems unsuitable to me. Tell me, what is the usual wage for a personal servant to a ranking member of the court?"

The Steward thought a moment and then answered, "Well, depending on whether the servant is fully, or only partly assigned to the noble, and on whether the assignment is to a lady or a gentleman or a knight, it ranges from two hundred to five hundred silver coins per month, Sire."

Then the Steward conceded, "But I take your point about this boy's wage being inadequate. I will immediately change it to four hundred silver coins a month, which is in the right range and will also give him incentive to improve his skills as he gains experience."

I will also note down that in future, a servant's pay must be based not only on his experience, but also on the position and the number of hours he or she is expected to work. Sir Leon, you were correct as this will help me to better classify servants who are brought in by nobles moving their households to Camelot. They often give over their staff to my supervision, and I have found that in some cases I am unable to judge their experience, so this will more easily allow me to set a fairer wage in those cases.

Uther nodded his approval and then turned to Leon and said, "Sir Leon, what is then the second area of concern?"

"This would be punishment, Sire," answered the knight.

Then, feeling that he first needed to explain Merlin's many duties, Leon said, "I believe I mentioned it last night, but in his position as manservant to the Prince, Merlin's tasks go far outside of what the regular household servants would do in their day's work. For example, besides bringing meals, keeping the chambers clean," and Leon was sure he heard Arthur snort at that, "and taking care of laundry and the like, Arthur also brings the boy out on patrols and hunting trips and often has him work as a sparring partner in training sessions."

Leon saw the Steward scowl slightly at this latest piece of news, as it was known to be a taxing activity with potential for injury, so was generally left to the squires who at least had fighting skills and good quality armour.

"In addition, he is very often asked to tend to Arthur's horses and dogs," Leon added.

When Arthur nodded, Leon continued, "Also, Steward, as you have told me, since he is part of the household staff, Merlin also has a share in the common duties."

The Steward nodded his confirmation, but Uther looked somewhat confused and said, "Yes, he does seem to have many duties, Sir Leon, but how is this related to punishment?"

"Well it is not so much related to the duties themselves, Sire, as it is to the wide variety of them all being overseen by different Masters," Leon said, trying to clarify.

But both Uther and Arthur now looked even more confused, so Leon decided that providing specific examples would be helpful.

Turning to Arthur, Leon said, "For example, Sire, when you sent Merlin to bring the horses to the stables after we had arrived from Cambria, what was your expectation of his duties there?"

"Naturally, I intended for him to drop the horses off, and then to return to take care of the bags, as I had instructed him," answered the Prince with a look of confusion at the question.

Leon nodded and said, "That was also my understanding of his orders, but did you know that the Stable Master had required him to groom and feed all six horses and also to clean and put away all of the tack?"

At Arthur's look of shock, Leon said, "I thought not, Sire. And when I entered the stables several HOURS after we returned, Merlin was STILL there and was being beaten for having failed in one of those tasks."

Then, looking at the Steward he asked, "And Master Steward, when you assigned Merlin to the task of washing the floor in the Great Hall, you called him lazy, and then beat him, severely, for being too slow at the task."

The Steward nodded in confirmation, and said, "Yes. As I have said, he is known to be lazy, and I have had to punish him for it on any number of occasions."

"That is where I would disagree, Steward, and is exactly my point," said Leon. And not quite able to keep the anger out of his voice he spat, "You punished him for being lazy, and said something about him gallivanting about the countryside. But were you aware that this 'gallivanting' as you put it, included the boy taking part in a very arduous rescue and a BATTLE, along with his usual duties while out with the Prince; duties which already keep him very busy I might add?"

The Steward shook his head and said, "No, I was not told of this."

Leon continued bitterly, "And I expect that you were also not told that the boy then stayed up for the entire night taking care of squire Alfred. Even Lord Aelrod remarked on his diligence. Merlin said that Gaius would have expected him to do it, since he is apprentice to the physician along with all of his other duties."

Alfred shuffled on his seat, where he'd been silent up to now, and said quietly, "Yes, he woke me every hour, since he thought I may have hurt my head when I fell. And also … I hurt him when he rescued me. I kicked him in the knee with one of my boots," the squire added, pointing at his steel-toed footwear.

Leon then continued his explanation, "And then, Steward, were you also aware that he was made to walk all the way back to Camelot with that injured knee?"

At this point Ewan spoke up and said sheepishly, "Yes, that was because I had lost my horse, and so we were short one mount, and he was the only servant, so….."

The Steward shook his head again, and said, "No, I knew none of this, Sir Leon. Well, it is no wonder the boy was so reluctant to kneel to wash the floor and was so slow in his work. Knowing this, I regret now that I punished him for it."

Leon's softened his tone and added, "But even that is not all. Since he had not completed the task you ordered of him, if you recall, you sent him to the Night Steward."

When the Steward confirmed, Leon went on, "Were you aware then, that the Night Steward assigned him to the kitchens for yet another full night of work? Or that in his weariness he broke some plates and was punished for that by having a large portion of his wages taken to pay for the damage?"

"No," said the Steward in resignation.

"Or were any of you aware that on the night before we travelled to greet Lord Aelrod, he had been out at least half of the night searching in the bog for some medicinal herbs for the Court Physician?"

Arthur and the Steward both shook their heads at this news, while Uther looked pensive.

Then turning to Arthur, Leon said, "This was when I first started to observe the boy's comings and goings, so I cannot say what happened before this; but Sire, did he serve you the night before?"

Arthur nodded and said, "Yes he did, Sir Leon. He attended me at dinner with my father, and then I have to admit that I kept him quite late to polish several pairs of boots and then to pour my bath."

Then turning to the King, Leon said, "So Sire, you can see that it was after three virtually full days and nights of work that you caught him asleep in the corridor and punished him for that too."

Uther nodded thoughtfully and said, "Yes Sir Leon, but how could any of us have known?"

"I don't think you could have known, Sire, and that brings me back to my point," Leon said. Then after pausing for a moment to clear his throat, he explained, "Perhaps any one of his failures taken individually would deserve a punishment. The problem is that, as you have seen, this servant has to please TOO MANY masters. Each of them has his own views on what the boy must accomplish and each punishes failures, but none take into account what he is already being asked to do by the others, nor any punishments he may already have received. As a result, the boy simply cannot complete his work to ANYONE's satisfaction, and this has led to a cycle of fatigue, failure and increasingly severe punishment that the boy has been unable to break out of."

The Steward and Uther both nodded in understanding, and then the Steward spoke. "Sir Leon, you are right of course, and I will certainly need to make some adjustments to take into account the servants who have duties outside of just the household. There are not many of them, but there are some assigned particularly to the younger knights, who likely have similar problems from time to time.

Arthur spoke up then, and said, "Steward, since Merlin is MY manservant, I suggest that I must be advised whenever anyone deems that he has failed in his duties and whenever they feel he deserves any sort of punishment. That way we can ensure that this does not become excessive. I had thought this was already the case, and was very surprised to learn that others besides my father or myself could punish him at all."

The Steward thought for a moment and then nodded, "Yes, that would make sense, Sire, although I believe we must also ensure that not only are you made aware of failures and punishments, but also of tasks in general to make sure that these also do not become excessive."

But before the Steward and Arthur could start discussing their ideas in more detail, Leon interjected, "There are some other problems also caused by his having duties outside of the usual, Steward, and you should also take these into consideration."

Arthur and the Steward looked back over at Leon, and Uther asked, "What are these other problems? Are they another of your areas of concern, Sir Leon?"

"Yes, Sire," answered the knight. "I was just about to say that my third area of concern was related to ensuring that these types of servants have their basic needs met."

Uther nodded at him to continue so Leon said, "I think you can already see how Merlin was unable to take proper rest because of all of the demands on him."

The Steward answered, "Yes I do see. We need to find a way to ensure that these demands stay within reason."

Leon nodded and responded, "Yes, we do. But in Merlin's case it was not just rest, but also food and shelter that were denied to him." At the Steward's look of surprise, which was mirrored by both Arthur and Uther, the knight added, "And I believe the root of this problem is not really related to having too many duties. It is simply that the present rules for the household staff do not take into account a servant who needs to spend a large amount of time away from the castle."

"What do you mean, Sir Leon? Which rules do not work?" asked the Steward, curious.

"Well, the obvious one is the rule for the set mealtimes, Steward," answered Leon.

"Ah yes, I should have guessed," said the Steward. "You and the Prince were leading me there earlier, were you not?" he added, but since he had a smile on his face, Leon guessed the man was not angry. In fact the knight suspected that the Steward had come to rather enjoy this discussion about needing to set up new rules.

Leon smiled back and said, "Yes, and not very subtly it would seem."

Then, becoming serious, the knight said, "Do you know that in the three days I observed him, not once, through no real fault of his own, was Merlin free and in the castle at the time of the servants' meal. And worse yet, while we were travelling, he told us that as a servant he was not even permitted to take any rations such as are provided to each noble. He cannot hunt, and he has no coin to purchase food, so I ask you, how would you expect him to eat?"

Arthur looked dismayed, obviously remembering how he had denied Merlin any time to attend the servants' meal the previous day, and had held back the food which Leon had wanted to offer the boy the evening before that. The Prince said, "I had no idea it was that bad, Sir Leon. When I saw his ribs... I was shocked."

Uther also nodded and said, "Yes, this should not have been possible in Camelot, at least not in a time of plenty."

Leon nodded and said, "Yes, I agree Sire. But I think the solution could be quite simple."

Then addressing the Steward he said, "Master Steward, as you said, if duties do not permit one's presence at the meal, should one not be permitted to eat later?"

The Steward answered, "Yes, of course Sir Leon. But as I also said, I need to control it, since I do feel that the set mealtime gives incentive to most of the staff to complete their tasks in an efficient and timely manner, and it also makes things much easier for the kitchen staff. But I think a case can easily be made for a few specific servants to be exempt from that rule."

Then the Steward sat back and steepled his fingers under his chin for a few moments as he thought. Finally he said to Uther, "Sire, it is clear to me now that I need to have a new classification for servants with extended duties, and I will draft some specific rules for them to deal with all of these concerns Sir Leon has raised."

Uther nodded and said, "Very well," then the King turned to Leon and said, "But you mentioned four areas of concern, what is the fourth?"

Leon answered, "The fourth one is about training, Sire. And, well, this one may be unique to Merlin and is due to his background and how he was awarded his position."

Again the King gestured for Leon to continue, "Sire, I've heard the boy called incompetent, and to an extent I would agree. But I am sure you recall the circumstances of his hiring, Sire. He was not born and raised as a household servant, and so had never had an opportunity to learn how to do many of his duties. Yet we do not seem to have provided him with any education to set this right."

The King asked the Steward, "Is this true? Has he had no training in his duties yet?"

The Steward reddened and then stammered out, "Well, Sire, we've been so busy that I could not spare anybody to teach him, and it may also take some time for him to learn. Most of these peasants have a tendency to be very dull."

Arthur's eyebrows shot up at that statement, and Leon was happy to contradict it, "Well, I think you will find Merlin is not like 'most of these peasants', Steward. He reads and writes, and from what I saw when I taught him a few things in the stables, he seems the type that only needs to be shown something once to master it. Even Lord Aelrod remarked on how quick-witted he was."

At the Steward's look of doubt, Arthur cut in, "Yes, Sir Leon is right. I know that on his first day Merlin didn't know the back from the front of a hauberk, but by the second he was already able to dress me in my armour almost as well as any squire. And Gaius would certainly never have suffered him as an assistant if he were dull."

Seeing that the Steward still had misgivings, Uther leaned forward and said to him sternly, "Steward, I detect that you have some animosity towards this boy. If so, it is misplaced and you must put it behind you. I remind you that I PERSONALLY appointed this servant to his position as a reward, and I expect you to give him every opportunity to succeed at this task."

"Luckily this matter would seem to be easy to solve," the King continued, leaning back with a shrewd look. "Master Steward, I expect you to see to the full training for my son's manservant as soon as he is fit for service once again. And you will be sure to include not just the household duties, but also these extended duties he has."

The Steward initially looked dismayed at being told he would need to take care of Merlin's training personally, but after a short time he nodded and said, "Well I do admit that I disliked the boy. However, in my defence, I believed myself justified, since he appeared to be just another lazy and stupid peasant."

Turning to Leon, the Steward said, "But from what you have explained to me, I stand corrected in this." Then turning back to the King he said, "Yes, I will ensure that he is given a proper chance, Sire. I will also of course be speaking to the other Masters in order to confirm the nature of the boy's duties with them, and ensure he is educated for those as well."

Uther also seemed satisfied with proposal, and was ready to move on. He sat back and said, "Very well. I am pleased that we have been able to address some of the problems within our system. However, now we need to discuss the specific case of my son's manservant."

Then looking at the Steward, the King said, "Steward, since it has now been proven that in fact the boy was mistreated, compensation must be given."

"Yes, Sire. I understand," said the Steward nervously.

Uther nodded then said, "Therefore, you will need to ensure that any pay taken from the boy in punishment is returned to him, and you PERSONALLY will pay an additional five hundred silver coins for the unwarranted and overly forceful beatings you admit he has been dealt on numerous occasions. In addition, I expect you to see PERSONALLY that he has all training that is needed for him to fulfil his duties."

"Yes, Sire," said the Steward, looking somewhat relieved that the penalty was not worse.

"And make no mistake, Steward," added the King warningly. "I consider that you are being dealt with very lightly in this. I realize that you were recently recruited from King Odin's court, and so perhaps that is why you were not aware that Camelot does not sanction this type of abuse of its citizens. However, you ARE aware of this now, and should I EVER hear of such a deviation from the acceptable disciplinary penalties again, you would be considered guilty of assaulting a commoner and would receive the decreed punishment according to the law."

The King then held the Steward's eye for a few moments until the man gulped and stammered out once again, "Yes, Sire. I understand."

Then the King turned to Ewan and Alfred, and said "As for you two, you already know how displeased I am about your abuse of your authority and for lying to your King."

"Yes, Sire," they answered apprehensively.

Then Uther turned to look at his son and said, "Arthur, you also are not blameless in this. YOU are this boy's master, and as such he may not refuse you. Therefore it is your responsibility to ensure that you know what it is he is being required to do for you, and to ensure that it is within reason. Your neglect of this has harmed the boy, and therefore you will join in the punishment with these two squires."

Arthur nodded his understanding. Then, fixing his gaze on all three young men, the King said, "Now, no doubt you are all anxiously awaiting my judgement in this matter, so here it is."

"Firstly, for the unjustified punishments you have caused the boy, after your morning training, you will each spend one of the next three afternoons in the stocks."

Then Uther allowed himself a small smile and said, "Sir Leon will ensure a plentiful supply of the usual projectiles for the amusement of the commoners."

The three young nobles looked at each other in horror, but did not dare to object.

Then the King turned serious again and said, "Secondly, your actions have resulted in injury and loss of property for this boy. Therefore each of you will pay him a compensation of 10 gold coins for his suffering at your hands."

"Thirdly, and I will need your assistance for this Steward, I wish these young men to understand at a fundamental level, what their servants must do to carry out the duties they are given. Therefore, each will spend one afternoon under your watch, fulfilling these typical duties. They are to be given no special consideration due to their rank."

The Steward's eyes narrowed in anticipation, and he tried to suppress a smile of what Leon thought could only be glee. Leon did not even bother to hide his smile, as he knew the Steward was already working out the worst chores possible to assign to the errant young men. The Steward's own humiliation in front of the King that morning would only make the man's task sweeter.

Arthur, Ewan and Alfred must also have had some inkling of what they would be in for at the hands of the Steward, since the three swallowed in dread almost simultaneously.

But Uther had not finished with them yet. "And since, as Sir Leon has explained, this serving boy often has extended duties with the physician and in the stables, each of you will also spend another afternoon at each of those tasks, replacing the boy while he is recuperating.

"Father!" objected Arthur, having reached the limit of his tolerance, "The stables? But surely you cannot want us to toil there! Your knights and nobles will recognize us and think it beneath us, and that would surely reflect badly on Camelot. The other tasks I can understand, but..."

Uther cut him off though, "But nothing, Arthur. You will do as you are told, and be grateful that I do not add a day in the kennels to your list."

"Yes Sire", answered Arthur in resignation, knowing that his father had seen right through his argument.

Satisfied, the King said, "Very well. Ewan and Alfred, you are now dismissed to your assigned duties until the afternoon when the first part of your punishment will take place. Arthur, for you that is the stocks, Ewan, you shall work with the Steward today, and Alfred, you will aid the physician."

The two squires rose and said, "Yes, Sire," and then hurriedly took their leave.

Once they had gone, the King said, "Sir Leon, I thank you for your help in this investigation, and before you go to prepare for the farewell ceremony for Lord Aelrod, I would ask both you and Arthur to accompany me to the physician's chambers. Gaius has long been a trusted advisor to me and, even though his ward is a servant, I still feel that Gaius deserves a first-hand account on our findings about the mistreatment of the boy."

"Yes, Sire, it will be my pleasure," said Leon who then stood and gathered his cloak, while Arthur did the same beside him.

As they moved towards the door, Uther added, "I will stay a few moments with the Steward to review the new rules once more, and will join you there presently."

Leon nodded and said, "Yes Sire," once more, then he and Arthur left the office, and headed back towards the physician's quarters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a funny story about this chapter.  
> When I originally posted this story, I went with a much shorter version of this chapter. I'd felt this version posted here was a bit long winded and had a lot of redundancy with the rest of the story. I was eventually persuaded to put up the long version as a kind of an 'alternative' (I tacked it on at the end of the story) and had a lot of people said they preferred it as it closed up more loose ends. So - that's the version I've decided to post on AO3.


	10. Chapter 10

Leon was not sure what he expected to see on entering Gaius' chambers. He knew it would have been too much to expect that Merlin would be so improved as to be up and sitting happily at the table taking his breakfast. But he had hoped that maybe a good night's sleep would have seen the young servant recovered enough to be awake and complaining about being confined to his bed.

He had not really expected to see a weary physician tending a boy who was clearly still very ill.

"How is Merlin?" Arthur asked the physician, who was standing at his workbench pouring some sort of yellowish liquid into a small bottle.

"Well, he is sleeping, as you can see, Sire," Gaius snapped at the Prince, with a look of disapproval that could leave not just kitchen scullions, but knights, princes and, Leon thought, most likely even the King himself, stammering in shame. It certainly seemed as though Gaius' anger at Arthur for his part in letting Merlin reach this state had returned full force.

Arthur scowled, not knowing exactly how to react. But Gaius relented somewhat and said more kindly, "As far as his injuries, well, there is nothing that a few days of bed rest would not usually heal. As I told Sir Leon last night, neither his arm nor his knee appear to be broken, though to be safe I've immobilized them as if they were. I will check again later today or tomorrow once the swelling has gone down more."

Then, having finished preparing the medication, Gaius took it over and set it down on the table beside the patient bed, next to some bits of cloth that Leon assumed were for cooling the boy in order to control his fever.

The knight watched as Gaius placed his palm first on one side of Merlin's face, then on the other. Then the physician raised his ward's sleeve and placed his fingers under the loose bandages covering the boy's wrist, in order to check his pulse. The physician obviously did not like what he found, for he scowled slightly as he put the boy's hand back down on the bed, giving it a gentle rub as he let go.

With a sigh, the Gaius reached over to pick the bottle back up and said, "I was hoping I would not have to give him another dose quite so soon. But his fever is still too high." Then, gently prying open Merlin's mouth, Gaius poured a few drops of the liquid onto the boy's tongue and urged him to swallow by stroking his neck.

After putting the bottle back on the table, Gaius turned back around to face Arthur and Leon. "Forgive me for snapping at you both," he said. "It's just that I'm afraid Merlin has not had a very good night. As you can see, he is very fitful."

In fact, Leon had noticed this as soon as he had come into the room. Merlin was tossing and turning on the patient bed, murmuring gibberish, and his face was flushed with fever. His constant movement had had nearly dislodged the cooling cloth from his brow, and even as Leon watched, another restless, though weak, kick of his uninjured leg caused his blanket to slip down and almost fall to the floor.

"Has he been like this all night?" asked Leon.

"Most of it," answered Gaius as he sat down in the chair beside the bed. "Now if you will give me a few moments, I want to try and get him cooled down."

Gaius hushed his ward and after removing the cooling cloth, he caressed the boy's forehead for a few moments to calm him. Merlin turned into the touch with a soft sigh, and Leon saw that his whole body seemed to relax and still. The knight guessed that the medication along with Gaius' comforting presence had sent the boy into a deeper sleep.

Satisfied, the physician picked up one of the fresh cloths from the table and dipped it into the bucket of cool water. He used the cloth first to sponge Merlin's sweat-soaked face and neck, and then raised the boy's tunic and did the same to his upper chest. Merlin winced very slightly and shifted a little bit, no doubt objecting to the chill on his skin, but he did not waken.

Finally Gaius dipped the cloth back into the cool water and squeezed it out again before laying it across the boy's forehead. Holding it in place to ensure that Merlin would not dislodge it again, and keeping his eyes on his ward, the physician explained, "The problem is that with so many injuries, added to his extreme level of exhaustion and hunger, he is having some difficulty in fighting off the infection that has taken hold in a few of the wounds in his back. Unfortunately it has caused his fever to rise during the night."

Then looking grimly over at Arthur and Leon, Gaius said, "I wanted to ask you, did he get threatened with a flogging?"

Arthur answered regretfully, "Yes, my father thought to punish him for an accident that happened during the feast."

Leon almost smiled when he noticed how the Prince then bent to straighten Merlin's blanket and then rubbed his servant's shoulder in a gesture of comfort before stepping back. The knight doubted that Arthur had even realized what he'd done.

"Ah, so I suspected," said Gaius. "And what about unfinished chores? He keeps mumbling something about a sword and a cloak…and not being able to eat?"

Arthur looked a bit guilty at this and answered, "Yes, those were among the chores I set him yesterday Gaius, but he had so much else to do that he never got around to them. And I think my father threatened not to let him eat or rest until all of his chores were finished."

At Gaius' look of disapproval, the Prince added, "But Gaius, I swear I would not have let that happen. In fact I even told my father that Merlin had finished everything he needed to do."

Gaius' glare softened and then he said, "I believe you, Sire. But I suspect that Merlin has forgotten, and the high fever and all of these worries have caused him severe nightmares all night. He has awakened several times in panic with them, and unfortunately, it has been preventing him from getting the rest he so badly needs."

After changing the cooling cloth once more, the physician stood and walked back toward his workbench. As Arthur and Leon followed, Gaius said, "I admit I had hoped one of you would stop by this morning. Might I ask you to request something from the kitchens for him? A thick gruel, ideally. It's just that I have not been able to get any supplies this week, and I am reluctant to leave Merlin like this in order to go to the market."

"Yes, of course, Gaius. I'll see to it right away," said Arthur enthusiastically, while Gaius placed some herbs in his mortar and began to crush them, filling the room with a pungent odour.

Leon watched as the Prince walked quickly to the door and spoke to someone in the corridor. The knight presumed that Arthur was very glad for an opportunity to do something concrete to help his young servant.

The Prince soon made his way back to the workbench and said, "Someone will bring up a meal of gruel shortly, and I've also ordered the guards at the end of the hall to make sure you get anything else you need for him over the next few days."

"Thank you, Sire," said Gaius. Then looking back over to where his ward was still sleeping peacefully he added, "Now, let us hope that Merlin will stay asleep until his food arrives. And after I get some food into him I plan to dose him with a very strong sleeping draught."

Arthur and Leon also watched Merlin sleep for a few moments but said nothing.

Finally Gaius must have wondered why the two nobles seemed to have no intention of leaving his chambers, for he put down his bowl and said, "And what can I do for you now? I take it that you did not come here just to check on your servant, Sire? Was there something else you needed?"

Arthur answered, "No, we don't need anything, Gaius. We are just waiting for my father to arrive. He should be here any time now."

Gaius raised his eyebrows in surprise at this news, and asked, "Your father! Is he ill? Surely he is not coming to check on the health of a servant?"

Leon continued, "Yes it is about Merlin, Gaius. Actually, we've just come from our meeting with the Steward, and the King wanted to tell you the outcome himself."

Then looking over at the sleeping Merlin again, Leon added, "Though it looks like Merlin will have to wait to hear the news."

"Well, I take it that something good must have come out of the meeting for Uther to want to deliver the news himself," said Gaius. "I hope so, because I have to admit that I was most upset to have Merlin end up like this," he added with a nod towards the boy.

Then fixing his gaze on the Prince he said, "He has become very dear to me even in the short time he has been in Camelot….. Can I trust you with him in future, Arthur?"

Arthur hung his head at the question, and did not dare to answer, but Gaius took some pity and admitted, "Well, I need to shoulder my part of the blame too. I knew you had him doing hours of chores in a day, and I still managed to give him a full set of my own."

"But Gaius, I didn't even notice how much he was working or about the punishments either. And I just kept calling him lazy….," said Arthur in shame.

Gaius nodded and said, "Arthur, I am a physician! I should have noticed his condition, but evidently he tried to hide it. Last night he admitted that he did not tell me about his difficulties because he was afraid I would be disappointed in him; that it was all his fault because he was a poor manservant, and he knew I had been so proud when he earned the position."

Leon scowled and said, "Well at least now hopefully things will get better."

"I hope so," answered Gaius, "though I am of half a mind to send him back to his mother. At least the only things he needs to worry about in Ealdor are starvation and the odd bandit attack!"

Arthur spoke hesitantly, "Well he may have a choice to make. Lord Aelrod has said that he would be happy to take Merlin back to Cambria with him. He told us that Merlin has impressed him with his sense of responsibility and his quick wits; two things I've certainly never given him credit for, though I suspect it was I who lacked them."

Gaius raised his eyebrows in surprise and said, "Indeed? Lord Aelrod asked for him?"

Arthur nodded and then said, "I hope Merlin decides to give us another chance, but I guess he at least deserves to know he has an option if he wants to leave."

"But Gaius," added the Prince, "if he does decide to stay, I give you my word that I won't let things get this bad for him again."

Gaius nodded but did not get a chance to respond because just then the King swept into the room.

* * *

"Gaius," said Uther, walking towards where the others were standing by the workbench, "I trust that Arthur and Sir Leon have told you why I have come?"

"Yes, Sire," answered Gaius. Then the physician added, a touch bitterly, "I believe you were meeting the Steward to find out how Merlin came to be so mistreated that he reached the point of collapse while carrying out his duties at your feast."

Uther paused for a moment, taken unexpectedly by the anger. "Ye…yes," he finally stammered, but then regained his usual confidence. "I wanted to let you know that we have discussed the household rules that govern your ward's position here, and I am sure you will not be surprised to learn that there were some problems found."

"No, I'm not surprised, Sire," interjected Gaius before the King could go on. "But will there be any steps taken to make sure this does not happen again?"

"Yes, of course, Gaius…. Please hear me out," said the King, sounding a little bit vexed at the interruption.

"Yes Sire," said Gaius, folding his arms across his chest and waiting impatiently for the King to continue.

Once the King was sure that Gaius would let him proceed, he told the physician about the decisions to revise Merlin's wages, to provide training for him and also about Merlin's exemption from the mealtime rules. Then he explained that Merlin would also receive compensation for the abuse he had suffered.

This seemed to please Gaius, for he said, "Thank you, Sire. Those measures will indeed help the situation, and Merlin will certainly be happy to be able to send more coin back to his home."

The King did not seem to Leon like he particularly cared what the young servant did with his earnings, but instead said, "And, Gaius, I am also aware that you rely on the boy as your assistant."

When Gaius nodded in confirmation, Uther glanced over at his son and said, "Well, as part of the punishment for their roles in this, Prince Arthur, and the squires Ewan and Alfred will be required to assist you for one afternoon each.

"Indeed, Sire!" responded Gaius with surprise. "Well, I certainly could use the help, especially since I intend to keep Merlin in his bed for at least two days, with permission of the Prince as his master of course."

"Certainly, Gaius. I was expecting no less. I do not expect him to return to his duties until you say he is fit again," answered Arthur.

Uther nodded and then said with finality, "I consider this matter settled then. And today you can expect Alfred to be here just after lunch. Arthur will attend you tomorrow and Ewan the next day. If you require any more information about either the meeting we held or about the measures that I have explained, then you may ask Sir Leon."

Merlin had stayed asleep and unaware throughout most of Uther's visit. But just as the King was turning to take his leave, the talking so close to his bedside, or maybe the unconscious recognition of the King's voice must have roused him. Leon saw the boy shift in his sleep and slowly begin to open his eyes.

Unfortunately, as soon as Merlin set eyes on Uther, his breathing quickened and his eyes shot completely open, wide-eyed in alarm and fear. The boy tried to sit and scramble back away from the King, but due to his restrained arm and knee he merely ended up half-sitting with his thin blanket bunched up at the end of his legs.

"Sire... Have you come to take me away to be flogged?" he cried out in panic, though his weary voice was barely a whisper. "I swear it was an accident... I would never want to dishonour you or Arthur, honestly!"

Everyone turned to the boy in surprise at seeing him awake, and Gaius and Uther began to walk toward his bed. This just increased Merlin's panic though, and tears began to flow down his cheeks as he choked out again, "Please, Sire... Please don't have me flogged. I will … leave Camelot if you want…."

Gaius soon reached the bedside and took the boy by the shoulders, saying "Hush, Merlin. You are not going to be flogged. You are suffering from exhaustion and you have a high fever. I need you to lie back for me and rest."

But Merlin was beyond understanding and turned imploring eyes to the physician, whispering, "Please, Gaius, don't let him take me. I just want to go home….."

Leon was surprised when it was Uther that replied, saying directly and even kindly, "Peace, boy. I am not here to harm you or take you anywhere, merely to tell Gaius what we have done to make sure this does not happen again."

But Merlin was obviously still afraid for he leaned forward to hide his head on Gaius' shoulder, and tightly grasped the physician's gown with the fist of his unbound arm. Gaius responded by gathering Merlin up towards him and hugging him closely, almost as though he were a small child; hushing him and trying again to calm him down.

Uther watched the boy's reaction with a scowl, and Gaius must have taken it as anger because he said urgently, "Sire, please do not be angry at the boy. He is really quite ill, and means no disrespect to you."

But Leon thought that the King seemed more guilty than angry, and had to admit that he was a little bit surprised. After all, guilt was not an emotion he normally associated with his King.

It turned out that Leon was right, because the King said, "Why would I be angry, Gaius? The punishment I ordered was meant to be severe. It was based on evidence that your ward had been in repeated dereliction of his duties, and had also shown a purposeful disrespect of his betters. I would stand by that order still was that evidence true, but it was not, and I realize that to an ill and hurt boy who had no guilt the prospect of a flogging must have been especially terrifying and traumatic."

Then, shaking his head he said, "No, I am not a monster, Gaius. I cannot be angry with him for this reaction to me."

Gaius said, "I am relieved to hear it, Sire. And I thank you for coming personally to tell me about the outcome of your meeting, but as you can see I had better get back to my patient."

"Yes, I understand," answered the King, before adding "And since my presence seems to be causing him undue distress, I shall take my leave of you."

Then with a final nod to Arthur and Leon, the King turned and left the chambers.

* * *

Once the King left, Gaius loosened his grip on Merlin only to find that the boy had fallen back to sleep.

"Well, I suppose this is the best for him," he said, laying Merlin back down and pulling the blanket back up to cover him. Gaius scowled and added, "Although I had been hoping he would wake somewhat more calmly around now so that he could eat something. But I think this fright has drained his strength , so it will be best if I simply wait until he wakens again naturally."

Leon was disappointed that they would not see the boy awake, and glancing over at Arthur he could tell that the Prince felt the same, but there was not much they could do about it. In any case, they had already lingered longer than Leon had expected, and they both had duties to attend to.

"Well, I guess we had better take our leave of you now," said Arthur, obviously having had the same thoughts. "The send-off for Lord Aelrod will begin soon, and my father will not be happy if we keep him waiting."

As the two headed towards the door, Gaius said, "Have a good day, Sire, Sir Leon. And don't worry. I will take good care of Merlin for you, Arthur."

Arthur nodded his thanks, and just before he and Leon went out into the corridor, the Prince turned back and said, "Gaius, don't forget that you can just ask the guards outside if you need anything for him." Then Arthur scowled and said, "And I guess I will see you tomorrow afternoon."

"Yes, thank you Arthur, I haven't forgotten," said Gaius with a smile as the two disappeared into the hallway.


	11. Chapter 11

The send-off for Lord Aelrod saw most of the Camelot nobility on hand in their finery. Arthur and Leon had both arrived in plenty of time, even after having gone back to their respective chambers to change into suitable attire.

Leon arrived a few minutes after Arthur, and since the knight had played a large part in welcoming the Lord and his son to Camelot, Leon had a place of honour beside Arthur to one side of the King at the top of the steps leading out of the castle. Lord Aelrod and his son stood on Uther's other side. The knight was glad of his place, since it was under the balcony, so out of the rain.

Leon was not sure who had dressed Arthur in Merlin's absence, and although the Prince looked as regal as always, he certainly seemed more disgruntled and less comfortable than Leon had seen him in a while, almost since he'd taken on Merlin.

"My shirt is too tight and my belt is too loose, and my socks have fallen down and I do NOT like these boots," complained Arthur, who had leaned over to whisper to the knight during a pause in the proceedings. "I guess Merlin was getting more competent at dressing me than I gave him credit for, is all I will say on the matter."

There were the usual speeches and promises of future visits during the ceremony, and then Lord Aelrod made ready to leave, accompanied by a small group of Camelot knights. This time, the group was made up of older nobles. Since the need to impress Roran had passed, Uther thought that Aelrod might prefer company from his own generation for his trip home.

Roran frowned as he watched his father mount his horse. Leon guessed that the young man was still a bit overwhelmed by the idea that he was staying in Camelot, though the newly made squire did not seem upset by the idea.

As Lord Aelrod rode towards the gates, the King also departed and the crowd began to disperse. Leon and Arthur stayed with Roran, waiting quietly as the young man watched until his father had ridden through the gates.

Alfred and Ewan soon came to join them, since the two squires had been put in charge of taking Roran to his new quarters and making sure he knew where the weapons and armour were stored. They would also take the young man to get the cloak and belt that officially marked him as a squire in Camelot before all three needed to head to the next training session. The session itself had been delayed until just before midday, due to the send-off and also to let Roran have some extra time to get prepared.

Leaving the three squires, Arthur said that he wanted to go to the armoury. Since Merlin was laid up, it meant that Arthur needed to collect his own equipment, and the Prince wanted to take some extra time to make sure everything was in good order, especially since Merlin had not really had a chance to do so after the events of the previous day.

Leon decided that he may as well go with Arthur. There was not really enough time to go all the way to the stables to visit his mare, and in any case, the knight would not mind a chance to take another look at the new crossbows.

Once Arthur had checked his equipment, Leon was only too happy to show him the new weapons from Tir Mor. "Look at this beauty," said Leon holding up his favourite.

Arthur only laughed and said, "Huh, Leon, that looks like something for a woman, with that polished dark wood for the stock and limb, and is that brass embedded in it? I much prefer this one here," and the Prince held up a slightly longer weapon of honey-coloured ash, with cool steel inlaid into the stock.

Finally they decided that they had best head out for their training, but just when they exited the room, Arthur said, "Wait, where are my gloves?"

Leon stuck his head back through the door, and looked around for a few moments before Arthur said, "No, they can't be here. I didn't bring them with me for the send-off. In fact, I think I remember putting them down on Gaius' workbench. I must have left them there."

"Well we should have just enough time to go back and collect them, Sire," said Leon. "Unless you would like me to go and get them for you?"

"No, that's alright, Leon. With the rain having started again, I admit I'm not really in a hurry to get to practice, so I can go myself," said Arthur with a chuckle.

Leon added a chuckle of his own and admitted, "I had the same thoughts, Sire. Let's both go then."

When they entered the chambers, Gaius looked up in surprise and said, "Arthur, Leon! I did not expect to see you back so soon!" Then pointing to the gloves at the end of the workbench he said, " I guess you must have come looking for those?"

"Yes, I need them for training, Gaius. They are my favourite pair!" admitted Arthur.

"How is Merlin doing?" asked Leon looking over to where the servant was sleeping peacefully. "Did his breakfast come for him finally?"

"Yes, actually it arrived shortly after you left, and he awoke very soon afterwards, much to my surprise," said Gaius. Then the physician smiled and said, "I'm happy to say that the meal and the sleep have done him a world of good. He ate almost all of the gruel, and his fever has come down too."

"That's good news," said Arthur walking over towards the patient bed to take a closer look at his servant.

"He looks more comfortable, Gaius," said the Prince, and Leon had to agree.

"Yes, after he ate I managed to change all of his bandages, and was able to confirm that nothing was broken. So I've removed the binding from his knee and lightened the one on his arm. That will keep him much more comfortable."

Arthur nodded and seemed about to lift Merlin's blanket to see for himself, when Gaius said, "Please don't wake him, Arthur. He's only just fallen back to sleep and although he has improved, he still has some fever, and he still greatly needs his rest."

Arthur dropped his hand back down and said, "Of course, Gaius," but it was already too late. Merlin must have recognized his master's voice, and the boy began to stir as though he would wake.

Gaius scowled and shook his head when he noticed but did not say anything nor move toward his patient, so Leon also stayed where he was.

It was not long before Merlin became aware enough to realize that the Prince was standing by his bedside. "Arthur, what are you doing here," he said weakly as he struggled to sit.

Arthur put a hand on Merlin's chest to prevent him from rising. "No, lay back and rest," he said, "Gaius said you were not to get up for at least two days, and I would not want to cross him!"

Merlin's eyes widened in surprise as he lay back. He had not thought he was so badly off.

"Since you've decided to wake up while I'm here for once, I wanted to see that you were all right," Arthur said. And then, hesitantly he added, "and to...uh.. apologize, even though my father said I should not, since I'm a prince and you're just a ... I mean, since you're my servant."

Merlin frowned a little and looked at the Prince questioningly, but didn't say anything.

Arthur rushed on, "I just wanted you to know that I never, I mean, I should have realized, and I know it's quite inexcusable, but I ...would not... ummm"

Merlin's look of confusion deepened, but then a small smile appeared on his lips as his tired mind started to piece together what Arthur was trying to say.

"You don't practice this apologizing thing much, do you?" he teased the Prince softly. "You sound just like Gwen," he added, but then closed his eyes again in fatigue.

"No. So you should feel honoured that I am trying it out on you," Arthur returned with a brief smile of his own.

Then he put his hand on Merlin's shoulder and continued seriously, "Merlin, what I mean is that it's my duty as your master to make sure that you are treated fairly when you are in my service, and I didn't do that because I was just too stupid to realize how much you'd been working and doing over the last few days. There's no excuse for that; I was right there and I should have seen, but I promise it will never happen again."

Merlin had opened his eyes again at hearing how sincere the Prince sounded, but when it looked like the boy might say something, the Prince held up his hand to stop him, and said, "Let me finish, or I won't be able to." Then he added, "I also wanted to tell you that even though you might not believe it, given how things have gone for you so far, I'd never purposely seek to hurt you or cause you despair in your work if I could help it."

Merlin was silent, and just when Leon was wondering if the boy would answer at all, he finally said, "Thank you, Arthur."

The boy shifted around a bit. It looked like he was trying to sit up, but finally he gave up and lay back again before saying, "And you should know that as your servant, I will always do my best for you." Then he sighed and said rather sadly, "Though I guess that sometimes my best is just not very good."

Arthur smiled back sheepishly, "Well, that's another thing; it turns out that even that is not really your fault, is it?" he said. "We expected too much from you, since you were never trained as a servant. So once you are back on your feet, the Steward will take some time to show you the ropes, properly this time."

"The Steward?" Merlin asked doubtfully, and with a hint of fear in his voice.

"Oh, don't worry, the Steward feels as badly as we do about all of this," Arthur reassured his servant. "So now he wants to be sure you know how to do your job, and he won't hurt you anymore."

"Good then," said Merlin in relief, obviously trusting his Prince. Then the boy closed his eyes once more.

Arthur watched, keeping his hand on the Merlin's shoulder as the boy was pulled back into the sleep his body so desperately needed.

Leon watched with a half-smile as Arthur finally removed his hand and walked back over to where Gaius and the knight still stood.

Arthur was not one to show his emotions, but Leon could tell that Merlin had triggered the same protective instinct in the Prince that Leon himself had fallen prey to just the day earlier. And for the same peasant boy too! There was certainly something about Merlin.

It was almost like magic, the knight supposed. But though Uther swore there was no such thing, Leon considered it would be a 'good' kind of magic indeed, if so; one that could only make a knight more noble.

Then surprising the others by chuckling out loud at his imaginings, Leon said, "Well Arthur, now that you've got your gloves, we really must head out to our training."

Arthur nodded his head reluctantly and said, "Gaius, I'm very happy to see Merlin is feeling better, but Leon is right and we'd better be on our way."

"Yes of course, Sire," answered the physician. Then smiling archly he added, "Oh, and I will see you tomorrow right after the midday meal, shall I? There are some interesting mixtures you can help me to grind, and some notes you can transcribe for me on the healing properties and use of eel serum. I have been researching how it can help purify the blood in certain types of illnesses. It's all very interesting and I am sure you will enjoy it!"

"Yes, I can hardly wait," said Arthur rolling his eyes and looking vaguely green.

Leon was still laughing as the two reached the steps heading out of the castle.

* * *

The next day was sunny and warm, the rain having finally cleared.

Leon had been assigned to a routine patrol that day, and was glad for the chance to get out of Camelot and into the forest for a few hours. The patrol was uneventful, with only a few travellers on the road, and the troop was back in Camelot by midafternoon.

After seeing to his horse and equipment, Leon thought he would go and check in on Arthur. It was not yet dinner time, so the Prince was no doubt still in the physician's quarters, likely writing about eel serum, the knight thought with amusement. It was a sight Leon wanted to see for himself, though he also had to admit that his real reason for wanting to visit Gaius so badly was that he wanted to see firsthand how Merlin was doing.

He had seen Alfred serving his punishment in the stables, where the squire had seemingly been given all the dirtiest tasks. The young man had still managed a smile, and had told Leon that Merlin had been much improved by the time Alfred had finished his afternoon with Gaius the day earlier. The boy was still confined to his bed and feverish, but had apparently already started to complain about it, so much so that an annoyed Gaius had given him a book on herbal remedies to study, and told him to either 'be quiet and read, or I will make you take a sleeping draught that will have you unconscious until the morning!'

Leon could easily imagine that!

He also smiled as he remembered Arthur that morning. The Prince had been unable to hide his jealousy of the knight and his patrol duty. Arthur had certainly NOT been anxious to spend the afternoon in the dark confines of the physician's chambers on this sunny day, especially not after having been locked into the stocks in the rain the day previous. Unfortunately, well for Arthur at least, the rain had not dampened the enthusiasm of the children when they had seen the huge baskets of rotten tomatoes, pears and cabbages that had been set out for them. Arthur had been mortified, and from what Leon had seen of him late in the afternoon, surely none of the clothing he'd had on would be salvageable.

* * *

Once the knight reached the physician's chambers, he saw that Merlin was propped up in the patient bed reading a large tome, and Arthur was grinding something with a mortar and pestle. Gaius was nowhere to be seen.

There were at least fifteen bunches of herbs spaced out across workbench where Arthur was working, each with a wide-mouthed bottle in front of it. Leon supposed that Arthur was meant to take a bunch and grind it, then put the contents into its allotted bottle before moving to the next bunch and repeating the exercise. It didn't look like a task that would normally thrill the Prince, although Arthur was certainly concentrated, his tongue caught between his teeth as he worked.

Both of the young men looked up as Leon entered the room, and Arthur said, "Leon, what are you doing here?" putting down his mortar.

"I've come to see how you were getting on, so don't let me stop you, Arthur," said Leon with a smile, "Are you planning to forego the sword, and take up dispensing potions, then?"

Arthur smiled back, "Hardly!" he said, "although it's actually been surprisingly interesting. I had no idea you needed to measure so carefully when putting together some of these things."

Leon heard a snort from the patient bed at this, to which Arthur said, "Oh, do shut up Merlin; how was I supposed to know?"

"Anyway," continued the Prince, "I had to throw out the entire last batch, and Gaius was NOT very happy with me. Honestly, Leon, I think he's more frightening than my father!"

Another snort came from the patient bed, and then Merlin said, "Well, if you'd only listened to me, Arthur. I told you….."

"Yes, yes, I know, you told me, _Mer_ lin," said Arthur, cutting the boy off, "but you've been 'telling me' all afternoon and I finally had to switch you off!" said the Prince. "Now, did you take that draught that Gaius left you yet? You finished your dinner over an hour ago, and I KNOW he told you to take it right afterwards."

Leon smiled. It was good to see that Merlin was well enough recovered to be giving his usual cheek to the Prince, and he could see that Arthur was enjoying it too.

"Well, no," admitted the servant, "I'm just not ready to go to sleep yet, and this book on treating insect bites is too interesting to put down."

"Oh, I'm sure," said Arthur, rolling his eyes at Leon. "But since you are still awake, and since Leon is here, there is something we need to tell you, but I don't want you to let this go to your head."

Then Arthur dropped the pretence of humour and walked over to the patient bed. Once he and Leon had reached Merlin, the Prince became serious, saying "Lord Aelrod has offered you a position in his household if, …. well, you know… if you do not want to stay on here…."

"He has? But why? How could he want ME?" said Merlin in confusion, "I would be the first to admit that I'm not a very good manservant. " Then with a spark of determination he added softly, "At least not yet."

Arthur sat down in the chair beside the bed so that he was not looking down at his servant any more, and said, "Well, first of all he was really, REALLY not happy when Leon told my father everything that we'd done to you in the last few days."

At Merlin's look of surprise, the Prince continued, "But that's not why. You shouldn't sell yourself short, Merlin. You may not have some of the skills,…all right.., a lot of the skills yet, but Lord Aelrod told my father that he saw in you a hard worker and someone with more than their fair share of courage and loyalty."

Merlin's eyes opened in disbelief at hearing that a King and a Lord had said that about him.

"And don't EVER ask me to repeat this again, but as soon as I heard him say that, I realized that's what I've always seen in you too," admitted Arthur. "I guess that's why I haven't fired you yet, and now I strongly doubt I ever would. That is, if you decide to stay."

Leon felt a little bit like he was intruding on a personal moment, so decided to stay silent.

Merlin looked at Arthur for a few moments, and said, "Well, I don't really want to leave Camelot. I mean, my mother sent me to Gaius, and I've come to really respect him. And I've made friends here too; more than I ever had in Ealdor."

Then Merlin fixed Arthur with a serious gaze, "But, I need to be sure you understand something. You need to realize that just because somebody is not a noble or a knight does not mean they have no value."

Arthur nodded, and Leon also found himself nodding. Finally Arthur answered, "Yes, I know that now, Merlin, and I promise I won't forget it. And I expect you to remind me about it, if ever I do."

Merlin continued to study the Prince for a few moments before he came to his decision. "I … I would be happy to stay and serve you, Sire," he said, almost as if it were an oath.

Arthur and Leon both let out sighs of relief and began to smile again.

Then Leon had to shake his head in wonder. How it had come to pass that he found it so important for this serving boy to want to stay at his job?

He did not have long to puzzle over it though, because Gaius came into the chambers just then and said in exasperation, "Merlin, what are you still doing awake? I told you that IMMEDIATELY after you finished your dinner, you were to take that sleeping draught. You NEED your rest my boy; you still have a bit of a fever."

"Well, Arthur and I were talking, and we … just … forgot…." said Merlin guiltily.

"Don't bring me into this, Merlin," said Arthur with a smile. "Gaius, I tried to get him to take it several times, but he told me that you said it was alright not to tonight. He said that he had slept better today and didn't need it anymore."

Merlin looked guilty at being found out, and tried to explain. "But Gaius, I feel better, and haven't had any nightmares today. And that stuff tastes so terrible, I'm sure it's been waking me up, not letting me sleep!" he said in what Leon could only describe as a whine.

"I've had enough of these battles, Merlin. You will take it. Now!" insisted Gaius.

But Merlin resisted yet again, "Gaius, how about if I try without it, and if I still can't sleep, then….."

But Gaius cut him off with a warning look. Then turning to the Prince and nodding towards his workbench he said, "Arthur, would you please fetch me that blue bottle on the corner?"

Then beckoning Leon over beside the bed the physician said, "Sir Leon, you will need to hold him for me. It seems I cannot trust him to take his medicine on his own, so I intend to force him. And since he did not take the one I set out for him earlier, I have to give him the stronger dose now."

Merlin opened his eyes wide in disbelief and tried to wriggle down under the blanket. But Gaius was apparently serious and gestured at Leon to restrain the boy.

With a smile, Leon held Merlin in place on the bed, lifting him back up to a half-sitting position by putting an arm behind his shoulders, and gently using his other hand to hold the boy's forehead, tipping his head back slightly.

Merlin struggled slightly, saying, "No, Gaius, I'll take it myself, I promise," in humiliation tinged with a bit of panic.

But Gaius would not relent and said, "It is too late for that, Merlin. Perhaps this lesson will teach you that I am serious when I prescribe a draught for you. Now be a good boy and open your mouth."

Merlin knew better than to protest any further, and slowly opened his mouth and scrunched his eyes shut, allowing Gaius to pour the offensive liquid down his throat.

Once the boy had swallowed, he winced in disgust at the taste. Laughing, Leon released him and helped him to lie down, pulling the blanket up once he'd settled.

"There, now that wasn't so bad, was it?" asked Gaius with a grin, "And I trust that next time I won't have to ask twice for you to take it."

"No,…okay…promise….Disgusting stuff though… just like I expected," whispered Merlin, eyes closed and very near to sleeping already.

Gaius turned to Leon and Arthur, who had broad smiles on their faces, and said, "Well, I'm afraid he won't be up to much more conversation tonight, though I do expect he will be feeling much better tomorrow."

Then the physician walked over to his workbench and said, "Now, I hate to ask it, but I must go back out to make a few more deliveries, and I do not want to leave Merlin quite so soon after giving him that sleeping draught. He should not wake, but if he does he will be disoriented and with his leg injured and his arm bound, I fear he may hurt himself if he tries to rise in that state."

While the physician began to take out the bottles that he needed for his deliveries, he said, "Arthur, I know I told you that your punishment would be ended once I came back, but would one of you mind staying to watch over him while I am gone? It should be no more than a half-hour."

Leon was about to volunteer, when somewhat to his surprise, Arthur beat him to it and said, "Of course, Gaius. That's the least I can do for him. In any case, I would normally be with Merlin at this time of day."

"Thank you, Sire," said Gaius, then picking up the bottles that he had set out, the physician made his way back out into the corridor.

* * *

From the way Arthur was watching his servant, Leon thought that the Prince probably preferred to keep his vigil alone. But just as Leon made ready to leave, Arthur said to him, "Leon, do you realize that even with all he's been put through in the last few days, Merlin has never even once mentioned how he saved our lives? Not even as a defence."

The knight looked fondly at the sleeping boy and answered, "Yes, actually I had noticed that. I don't think he even realized that he'd done anything special. He has shown me that those of common birth not only have 'value', as Merlin put it, but that they are just as able to show courage, duty and honour as any noble or knight. Four days ago, I never would have believed it, but this boy has put us all to shame."

Nodding his head, Arthur expressed some of the same concerns that Leon had already been forced to confront. "It makes me wonder on our knights' code, Leon. What exactly is it about our 'blood' that apparently makes us so honourable that we are taken to be beyond reproach? I don't think I believe that any more. I'm beginning to understand that it's not our birth that makes us noble, it's our actions."

Leon had nothing to say to that, he merely clasped Arthur's shoulder in support and agreement, and gave the Prince a smile before taking his leave and heading to the door.

But just before he left the chambers, he paused and looked back to where Arthur watched over his sleeping servant. The knight realized that he had never seen such a look on the Prince's face before. Courage, yes; confidence, often; but not this look of... 'determined responsibility' was the only way he could describe it.

Leon sorely regretted Merlin's ordeal, and especially his own part in it, but the knight knew it had made him a better man. He also strongly suspected that it had made Arthur a better man too.

In fact, Leon could already see that this better Arthur had every possibility of becoming a King that he would follow to the ends of the earth.

And all because of a young serving boy...


End file.
